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OF 

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'/y 


zA  ^ook^  About  Autographs 


BY 

Simon   Gratz 


EDITION  OF  500  COPIES,  OF  WHICH 
THIS  IS  No. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/bookaboutautograOOgrat 


SIMON  GRATZ 


A  BOOK  ABOUT 
AUTOGRAPHS 


BY 

Simon  Gratz 


ILLUSTRATED 


PHILADELPHIA 

William  J.   Campbell 
1920 


Copyright  1920  By  William  J.  Campbell 


I    DEDICATE    THIS    BOOK    TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 
MY    LIFE-LONG    FRIEND 

JAMES  TYNDALE  MITCHELL 

CHIEF    JUSTICE    OF 

THE    SUPREME    COURT    OF    PENNSYLVANIA 

AND 

AN    ENTHUSIASTIC    COLLECTOR 


s46o;: 


PREFACE 

THE  purpose  of  this  book,  which  is  written 
in  compHance  with  requests  from  a  number 
of  my  friends  who  are  collectors,  is  to  gather 
together,  in  compact  form,  a  variety  of  in- 
formation about  autographs  which  is  widely  scattered 
and  not  easily  accessible.  Much  that  is  valuable  is 
to  be  found  in  the  book  written  by  Dr.  H.  T.  Scott, 
entitled  "Autograph  Collecting";  while  the  more  elab- 
orate work  prepared  by  him  in  collaboration  with  Mr. 
Samuel  Davey — "A  Guide  to  the  Collector  of  Histor- 
ical Documents,  etc." — is  very  complete  in  its  general 
treatment  of  the  subject.  Part  of  the  material  they 
contain  has  been  used  in  the  preparation  of  several 
chapters  of  the  present  book;  and  the  writer  freely 
acknowledges  his  obligations  to  them,  as  well  as  to 
Mons.  Etienne  Charavay's  excellent  preface  to  the 
Catalogue  of  the  collection  of  Alfred  Bovet. 

Other  books,  such  as  Mr.  Adrien  H.  Joline's  very 
entertaining  "Meditations  of  an  Autograph  Collector" 
and  "Rambles  in  Autograph  Land,"  consist  mainly  of 
the  text  of  letters  in  his  collection,  which  serve  as  a 
basis  for  the  expression  of  thoughts,  observations,  and 
comments,  sometimes  profound,  sometimes  humorous 


or  sarcastic,  but  always  interesting  and  frequently  in- 
structive. The  same  comment  is  true,  though  in  a 
much  smaller  degree,  of  the  little  book  written  by  Mr. 
George  R.  Sims,  entitled  "Among  My  Autographs." 
These  books  have,  therefore,  a  character  that  is  literary, 
and  distinctly  different  from  the  practical  treatment 
of  the  subject  which  is  intended  to  be  followed  in  this 
volume. 

From  all  available  sources  the  writer  has  tried  to 
gather  whatever  will  help  to  give  collectors  something 
approaching  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  taste  for 
collecting  autographs,  and  its  progress  from  small  be- 
ginnings to  the  prominence  it  has  now  attained.  In 
the  belief  that  a  portion  of  the  subject  which  has  hither- 
to been  neglected  should  receive  proper  consideration, 
much  space  is  given  to  a  detailed  account  of  a  number 
of  the  leading  collections  that  have,  in  years  past,  made 
their  appearance  at  public  sales  after  the  death  of  their 
owners. 

If  this  compilation  shall  prove  acceptable,  and  in 
some  respects  useful,  to  those  who  have  been  led  into 
the  pursuit  of  the  very  delightful  hobby  and  recreation 
that  has  so  long  been  dear  to  the  writer,  he  will  feel 
that  his  labor  has  not  been  in  vain. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Portrait  of  Simon  Gratz Frontispiece 

Autograph  inscription,  in  an  Album  Amicorum,  of 
Otto  Von  Guericke,  the  celebrated  German  ex- 
perimental philosopher,  and  the  inventor  of  the 

air-pump 19 

Autograph  inscriptions,  in  an  Album  Amicorum,  of 
Caspar  Ziegler,  an  able  German  jurist  and 
Protestant  canonist,  and  Samuel  Stryk,  a  Ger- 
man jurist  and  author 19 

Authograph  letter  of  Pierre  Jean  Clays,  the  eminent 
Belgian  marine  painter,  written  to  Benjamin 

W.  Austin 39 

Portrait  of  William  Upcott 91 

Portrait  of  Dawson  Turner 122 

Portrait  of  Robert  Gilmor 172 

Portrait  of  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  M.  D 180 

Portrait  of  Rev.  William  B.  Sprague 184 

Portrait  of  Charles  C.  Jones 194 

Portrait  of  Elliot  Danforth 196 

Portrait  of  Ferdinand  J.  Dreer 226 

Page  of  an  autograph  letter  signed,  of  John  Keats .   238 
Autograph  letter  of  Aaron  Burr  written  in  the  year 
1776,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  when  he  was  an 

officer  in  the  Continental  Army 251 

Conclusion  of  an  autograph  letter  of  Burr  written 

in  the  year  1795,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine 251 

Autograph  letter  of  Francis  Bacon — afterwards 
Baron  Verulam  and  Viscount  St.  Albans — 
written  some  years  before  his  elevation  to  the 

peerage 253 

Autograph  letter  of  Bacon,  written  in  the  year  1619, 

when  he  was  Lord  Chancellor  of  England 253 

Portrait  of  A.  H.  Joline 278 


EXPLANATION    OF    ABBREVIATIONS    USED 
IN  THIS  BOOK 


A.  L.  S.,  autograph  letter  signed.  A  letter  entirely  in 
the  handwriting  of,  and  signed  by,  the  person  named. 

A.  D.  S.,  autograph  document  signed.  A  document 
entirely  in  the  handwriting  of,  and  signed  by,  the 
person  named. 

P.  A.  S.,  the  same  as  A.  D.  S. 

L.  S.,  letter  signed.  A  letter  signed  by  the  person 
named,  the  body  of  which  is  not  in  his  handwriting. 

D.  S.,  document  signed.  A  document  signed  by  the 
person  named,  the  body  of  which  is  not  in  his  hand- 
writing. 

Folio,  foolscap  paper  size. 

4to,  letter  paper  size. 

8vo,  note  paper  size. 

p.,  page,     pp.,  pages. 


CONTENTS 

Concerning  the  taste  for  collecting  autographs.  ...      13 
The  qualities   that  determine  the  value  of  auto- 
graphs       21 

Of  the  various  ways  in  which  collections  have  been 

formed 26 

Concerning  spurious  or  false  autographs 40 

On  the  progressive  increase  in  the  market  value  of 

autographs' 69 

Concerning  some  noted  European  collections  of  the 

olden  and  of  recent  times 85 

Concerning  collectors  and  private  collections  in  the 

United  States 170 

Concerning  public  collections  of  autographs 208 

On  the  migration  and  pedigree  of  autographs 230 

Conversations  about  autographs 240 

APPENDICES 

A.  List  of  books  containing  facsimiles  of  autograph 
letters  or  of  mere  signatures 283 

B.  List  of  commissioners  to  confer  with  the  Six 
Nations  and  other  Indians,^October  5,  1745..  .   289 

C.  Delegates  to  the  Albany  Convention  in  1754.  .   291 

D.  Delegates  to  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  of  1765. .   293 

E.  Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774.  296 

F.  Presidents  of  the  Continental  Congress 298 

G.  Revolutionary  Cabinets 300 


H.  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence .  . .  308 

I.  Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress 311 

J.  Signers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation 329 

K.  Delegates  to  the  Annapolis  Convention,  1786..  332 
L.     Signers  of  the  Constitution  and  Members  of 

the  Federal  Convention 335 

M.  Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War 339 

N.  Washington's  Secretaries  and  Aides-de-Camp. .  344 
O.  Presidents   and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  United 

States 346 

P.  Speakers  of  the  House  of  Representatives 351 

Q.  Delegates  to  the  Peace  Congress  of  1861 353 

R.  Members    of   the    First    Congress    under    the 

Constitution 359 

Index 363 


CHAPTER  I 

Concerning  the  Taste  for  Collecting  Autographs 

FORTUNATE  should  we  count  the  man  who 
has  formed  a  taste  for  collecting  books,  auto- 
graphs, coins,  engravings,  postage  stamps,  or 
any  other  thing  that  may  strike  his  fancy.  If 
he  takes  a  genuine  interest  in,  and  has  a  real  love  for, 
the  diversion  he  has  chosen,  he  is  sure  to  derive  much 
pleasure,  and  to  gain  a  varying  amount  of  intellectual 
profit,  from  its  pursuit. 

It  is  good  for  the  body,  as  well  as  the  mind,  to  seek 
occasional  relief  from  the  tedium  and  cares  of  active 
professional  or  business  life,  by  turning  to  one's  chosen 
hobby  for  relaxation  and  quiet  pleasure. 

Students  of  history  and  biography  are  naturally 
attracted  to  the  great  names  that  shine  in  the  pages 
they  have  read.  They  cherish — if  they  can  obtain  it 
— any  personal  memento  of  one  who  is  famous  in  the 


14  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

annals  of  literature,  statecraft,  royalty,  war,  music, 
etc.,  etc.  A  fragment  of  his  personal  attire,  his  watch, 
cane,  seal,  snuffbox,  sword — in  short,  anything  that 
was  worn  or  used  by  him — is  valued  most  highly.  A 
small  piece  of  the  coffin  in  which  he  was  buried,  or  a 
few  of  the  hairs  cut  from  his  head,  would  be  regarded 
as  exceptional  treasures.  Witness  the  prices,  as  given 
in  Dr.  Scott's  "Autograph  Collecting,"  that  such  things 
have  brought.  In  1816,  an  English  peer  gave  £750 
for  a  tooth  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  For  an  old  waistcoat 
of  Rousseau's,  960  francs  were  given.  In  1836,  500 
francs  were  paid  for  a  doubtful  cane  of  Voltaire's. 
The  wig  of  Sterne,  the  author  of  "Tristram  Shandy," 
realized,  at  a  London  auction  in  1822,  the  enormous  sum 
of  200  guineas.  Two  pens  used  in  signing  the  treaty 
of  Amiens  in  1801  were  purchased  for  £500.  The  hat 
worn  by  Napoleon  at  the  battle  of  Eylau  was  sold  in 
Paris,  in  1835,  for  1920  francs.  Twenty  years  ago  an 
engraved  silver  spur,  worn  by  Henri  IV.  at  his  entrance 
into  Paris,  realized  14,000  francs. 

Of  all  these  "gentle  pastimes,"  the  collecting  of 
autographs  appeals  most  strongly  to  those  who  seek  a 
delightful  relaxation  in  an  eminently  intellectual  amuse- 
ment. An  autograph  letter  from  the  hand  of  a  noted 
man  is  the  closest  personal  memorial  of  him  that  can 
be  had.     Here  we  have  the  identical  paper  that  his 


TASTE  FOR  COLLECTING  15 

hands  touched  and  on  which  he  wrote  the  words  we 
read — words  expressing  thoughts  as  they  emanated 
from  his  brain.  We  almost  feel  as  if  we  were  in  direct 
contact  with  the  writer.  If  he  was  good  as  well  as 
great,  a  feeling  of  reverence  for  the  paper  we  treasure 
steals  over  us.  We  are  moved  by  the  desire  to  learn 
the  leading  events  of  his  life;  and,  if  he  was  a  prominent 
character  in  history,  we  wish  to  know  the  historical 
events  in  which  he  was  a  participant.  In  this  way  our 
treasured  personal  memorial  leads  us  into  fields  of  in- 
tellectual activity  and  historical  research. 

The  taste  for  autographs  dates  back  to  ancient 
times,  when  people  wrote  on  tablets  of  wax  or  on  papy- 
rus. Mr.  Joline,  in  his  entertaining  "Meditations  of 
an  Autograph  Collector,"  tells  us  that  "it  existed  among 
the  Greeks  in  the  palmy  days  of  their  civilization.  It 
is  related  that  the  third  Ptolemy  refused  to  supply  the 
starving  Athenians  with  wheat,  unless  he  was  allowed 
to  borrow  the  original  manuscripts  of  iEschylus, 
Sophocles,  and  Euripides,  in  order  that  he  might  make 
copies  of  them.  .  .  .  Cicero  was  an  enthusiastic  col- 
lector, as  were  also  the  Consul  Mucianus  and  Libanius 
the  Sophist." 

Whether  these  manuscripts  of  great  writers  were 
desired  merely  for  literary  purposes,  or  whether  an 
additional  and  special  interest  was  attached  to  them  as 


16  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

original  autographic  papers,  does  not  appear.  The 
probability  is  that  they  were  not  sought  in  the  way  or 
for  the  reasons  that,  at  a  much  later  period,  led  to  the 
collecting  of  autographs. 

William  S.  Walsh,  in  his  "Hand-Book  of  Literary 
Curiosities,"  speaks  thus  of  autograph  hunting:  ''Spo- 
radic cases  are,  indeed,  recorded  at  a  very  high  antiquity; 
but  it  is  only  during  the  last  two  centuries  that  it  has 
reached  the  epidemic  stage.  The  first  case  ever  re- 
corded was  that  of  a  certain  Atossa.  Little  is  known 
about  her,  save  that  she  was  not  the  mother  of  Darius, 
though  she  may  have  been  the  mother  of  the  autograph 
collector.  .  .  .  But  we  really  are  not  on  solid 
ground  until  we  reach  the  great  name  of  Cicero.  We 
know  that  he  had  a  collection,  and  a  fine  one;  for  he 
speaks  of  it  with  gratulation.  The  fever,  even  in  those 
early  days,  was  contagious.  It  spread  to  his  contem- 
poraries; it  raged  with  some  violence  among  his  im- 
mediate successors.  Pliny  mentions  one  Pompeius 
Secundus,  at  whose  house  he  had  seen  autographs  of 
Cicero,  Augustus,  Virgil,  and  the  Gracchi.  Yet  Pliny, 
who  bows  to  Secundus  as  his  superior,  himself  possessed 
a  collection.  Then  came  the  eruption  of  the  barba- 
rians, and  good-by  to  the  collector  and  his  collections. 
We  do  not  meet  him  again  until  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth   century.     Then  he  reappears  in  the  person 


TASTE  FOR  COLLECTING  17 

of  a  certain  Bohemian  squire  who,  about  the  year  1507, 
began  keeping  a  book  which  recorded  his  exploits  of 
the  chase,  and  in  which,  as  a  further  refresher  of  his 
memory,  he  collected  the  signatures  of  his  great  hunter 
friends.  This  he  called  his  Album  Amicorum,  probably 
in  memory  of  the  Roman  Album,  from  albus,  white,  a 
blank  tablet  for  making  entries.  The  custom  soon  ex- 
tended all  over  Germany,  not  merely  with  hunters,  but 
more  especially  with  travellers  who,  on  returning  from 
the  grand  tour,  would  proudly  exhibit  their  Alba  in 
proof  of  the  good  company  they  had  kept  while  on  the 
road.  By  the  seventeenth  century  it  had  reached 
France,  and  evidently  it  was  just  beginning  to  be  heard 
of  by  Englishmen  anxious  to  emulate  foreign  fashions 
in  1642,  when  James  Howell  included  in  his  "Instruc- 
tions for  Forreine  Travel"  this  item:  "Some  do  use  to 
have  a  small  leger  book  fairly  bound  up  table-book- 
will  [table-book-wise],  wherein  when  they  meet  with 
any  person  of  note  and  eminency,  and  journey  or  pen- 
sion with  him  any  time,  they  desire  him  to  write  his 
name,  with  some  short  sentence  which  they  call  the 
mot  of  remembrance,  the  perusall  whereof  will  fill  one 
with  no  unpleasing  thoughts  of  dangers  and  accidents 
passed." 

John   Gough   Nichols,  in   his    preface   to   "Auto- 
graphs   of   Royal,    Noble,    Learned,   and   Remarkable 


18  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Personages  conspicuous  in  English  History  from  the 
reign  of  Richard  the  Second  to  that  of  Charles  the 
Second,"  says:  "Our  earliest  signatures  of  laymen  of 
rank  commence  with  the  reign  of  Richard  the  Second. 
Familiar  epistles  are  not  found  until  the  reign  of  Henry 
the  Fifth.  We  have  nothing  earlier  than  the  fifteenth 
century  which  can  be  called  a  familiar  letter.  .  . 
The  first  collections  of  autographs  were  probably  those 
entitled  Alba  Amicorum.  .  .  .  Isaak  Walton,  in 
his  biography  of  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  defines  an  'Albo' 
to  be  'a  white  paper  book  which  the  German  gentry 
usually  carry  about  them  for  the  purpose  of  requesting 
eminent  characters  to  'write  some  sentence  in.'  No. 
933  in  Humphrey  Wanley's  catalogue  of  the  Harleian 
Manuscripts  is  described  as  a  paper  book  in  octavo, 
bound  longwise,  being  one  of  those  which  the  Germans 
call  Albums,  and  are  much  used  by  the  young  travellers 
of  that  nation,  who  commonly  ask  a  new  acquaintance 
[even  at  the  first  meeting]  to  write  some  sentence  there- 
in, with  a  compliment  to  the  owner's  learning,  good 
sense,  etc.  Which  done,  the  names  gotten  are  laid  be- 
fore the  next  new  face,  and  the  young  man  upon  all  oc- 
casions, especially  at  his  return,  by  these  hands  demon- 
strates what  good  company  he  has  kept." 

These  Alba   Amicorum    are   very   numerous.     In 
the  year  1862  there  were  said  to  be  upwards  of  six 


XJ^O"->)ici  J{fkh^'  (u-^lA^r-iA^^ 


Upper — Autograph  Inscription  in  an  Album  Amicorum  of  Otto  von  Guericke, 
the  celebrated  German  experimental  philosopher,  and  the  inventor  of  the  air-pump. 

Lon.ver — Autograph  Inscription  in  an  Album  Amicorum  of  Caspar  Ziegler,  an 
able  German  jurist  and  Protestant  Canonist,  and  Samuel  Stryk,  a  German  jurist 
and  author. 


20  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

hundred  of  them  in  the  manuscript  department  of  the 
British  Museum,  one  of  which  contains  the  rare  auto- 
graph of  the  poet  Milton.  The  earliest  is  that  num- 
bered 1178  in  the  Egerton  Mss.  It  bears  date  1554. 
No.  851  in  the  Sloane  Collection  is  also  a  notable  early 
example.  It  was  formed  in  1579,  commences  with  the 
motto  and  signature  of  the  Due  d'Alengon,  the  suitor 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  has  on  the  opposite  page  a 
short  inscription  by  the  Emperor  Matthias  of  Germany. 
At  the  present  day  they  frequently  occur  at  auc- 
tion sales  or  in  dealers'  catalogues  in  Germany,  and 
bring  prices  varying  from  high  to  moderate  according 
to  the  importance  of  the  names  they  contain.  Many 
of  them  have  been  taken  to  pieces  to  obtain  autographs 
of  noted  persons  that  are  not  procurable  in  the  form  of 
letters. 


CHAPTER  II 

The    Qualities    that    Determine    the    Value    of 

Autographs 

IN  considering  the  qualities  that  determine  the 
value  of  autographs  it  seems  scarce!}^  necessary  to 
remark  that  the  only  letters  or  documents  which 
are  welcomed  as  ornaments  in  the  cabinets  of 
collectors,  and  which  have  a  definite  and  well  sustained 
market  value,  are  those  of  men  and  women  who  have 
achieved  note  in  some  particular  walk  of  life  or  have 
held  positions  of  commanding  prominence.  Occa- 
sionally it  may  happen  that  a  collector  will,  for  some 
special  reason,  desire  a  letter  of  one  who  was  unknown 
to  fame  or,  perhaps,  had  earned  the  horrid  fame  which 
attaches  itself  to  a  few  notorious  criminals.  Thus,  a 
letter  of  John  Wilkes  Booth,  the  assassin  of  President 
Lincoln,  brings  a  large  price;  as,  probably,  would  let- 
ters of  the  fanatics  who  killed  King  Henry  of  Navarre, 


22  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

the   Due   de   Guise,   and   the    Duke   of    Buckingham. 

What,  then,  are  the  factors  that  settle  the  rank  of 
an  autograph  letter  or  document,  as  well  as  its  market 
value? 

First.  The  genuineness  of  the  paper — that  is,  the 
authenticity  of  the  handwriting — must  be  undoubted. 
This  is  an  absolute  requisite.  Where  the  shadow  of  a 
reasonable  doubt  hangs  over  a  paper,  a  prudent  buyer 
will  not  becomes  a  purchaser. 

Second.  The  most  illustrious  names  that  shine  in 
the  pages  of  history,  literature,  etc.,  are,  of  course, 
those  that  will  command  the  highest  prices;  as  they  are 
sought  for  by  all  collectors.  Of  the  names  that  come 
in  this  class,  those  that  are  most  rarely  met  with  are 
naturally  the  most  costly.  For  example,  Tasso  or 
Corneille  would  bring  vastly  more  than  Addison  or 
Pope  in  the  literary  series;  while  for  such  names  as 
Columbus,  Amerigo  Vespucci,  and  others  that,  as  the 
French  say,  are  presque  introuvables,  a  man  of  great 
wealth  might  be  willing  to  pay  a  small  fortune.  In 
American  autographs  we  have  the  well  known  instances 
of  two  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
Thomas  Lynch,  junior,  and  Button  Gwinnett;  of  the 
former  of  whom  only  one  autograph  letter  signed  is 
known,  and  of  the  latter  nothing  better  than  a  letter 
signed.     A  good  A.  L.  S.  4to  or  folio  of  either  would 


DETERMINING  VALUES  23 

readily  bring  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars  in  the 
present  condition  of  the  market  for  such  rarities. 

Third.  The  character  of  the  contents  of  the  letter 
or  document  plays  a  large  part  in  the  answer  to  the 
inquiry  about  value.  A  love  letter  from  a  noted  poet 
or  prose-writer — as,  for  example,  one  of  Dean  Swift's 
letters  to  Stella,  or  one  of  the  many  that  John  Keats 
wrote  to  Fanny  Brawne — is  worth  much  more  than  a 
letter  with  ordinary  contents.  One  that  contains 
material  for  history  is,  in  like  manner,  more  valuable 
than  one  devoid  of  any  particular  interest.  A  good 
A.  L.  S.  4to  of  King  Charles  I.,  of  England,  with  unim- 
portant contents,  may  to-day  [when  prices  are  tre- 
mendously inflated]  be  worth  from  £30  to  £50;  whereas 
the  remarkable  letter  to  the  Marquis  of  Ormond,  which 
is  twice  named  in  other  chapters  of  this  book,  would 
probably  bring  ten  times  as  much.  So,  while  an  or- 
dinary A.  L.  S.  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  may  be  estimated 
at  £75  to  £100,  that  which  was  recently  sold  in  the 
Huth  sale  brought,  on  account  of  its  pathetic  and  very 
interesting  contents,  £520;  an  enormous  figure  when  we 
consider  that  £84  was  thought  to  be  a  high  price  for  it 
at  the  Young  sale  in  1869.  And  whereas  a  letter,  with 
contents  of  no  particular  importance,  of  the  unfortunate 
Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford,  might  be 
rated  at  £30  or  £40,  that  which  he  wrote  to  his  wife, 


24  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

while  he  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  expressing  his 
belief  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  charge  against  him, 
or  that  "at  the  worst,  his  Majesty  will  pardon  all" — 
which  produced  £40.10.0  at  the  Baker  sale  in  1855 — 
would  be  likely  to  realize  not  less  than  five  times  that 
amount  to-day. 

Fourth.  The  celebrity  or  station  of  the  person  ad- 
dressed is  far  from  being  an  unimportant  factor.  Take, 
for  example,  the  letters,  in  the  Tremont  collection,  of 
Kings  and  Queens  written  to  other  crowned  heads; 
such  as  those  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  King  Henry  III 
[of  France],  Francis  I.  [of  France]  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  Henry  VIII.  to  Catherine  de  Medicis, 
James  I.  [of  England]  to  Henry  IV.  [of  France],  and 
Louis  XII.  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian.  We  do  not 
need  to  be  told  why  such  a  letter  has  a  value  much  in 
advance  of  that  which  attaches  to  one  written  by  a 
Sovereign  to  a  subject  on  an  ordinary  affair  of  State. 

Fifth.  The  length  of  the  letter  is  also  to  be  taken 
into  account;  though  it  is  hard  to  understand  why  the 
number  of  pages  should  influence  value,  unless  the  in- 
terest of  the  contents  keeps  pace  with  the  quantity  of 
written  words. 

Sixth.  The  condition  of  the  letter  is  a  matter  for 
consideration.  A  dilapidated  or  worm-eaten  paper, 
or  one  in  which  the  ink,  by  its  corrosive  qualities,  has 


DETERMINING  VALUES  25 

destroyed  portions  of  the  text — as  is  quite  common  with 
Italian  letters  of  the  16th  and  17th  centuries — is  thus 
robbed  of  much  of  its  commercial  value.  Any  imper- 
fection in  the  signature  has  a  like  effect. 

Seventh.  A  full  A.  L.  S.  4to  or  folio  is  far  more  val- 
uable than  a  letter  merely  signed  by  the  writer  or  a  docu- 
ment signed,  unless  the  historic  interest  of  the  two  latter 
should  offset  the  difference;  and  letters  or  manuscripts 
on  paper  are  much  more  desirable  than  those  on  vellum. 

Lastly.  The  taste  that  prevails  at  any  particular 
period  has  a  large  influence  upon  prices.  This  fact 
can  be  well  illustrated  by  the  series  of  American  cabinet 
officers  and  that  of  members  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. Thirty  or  forty  years  ago  nearly  all  collectors 
paid  attention  to  the  names  in  these  series,  and  they 
were  in  constant  demand  at  good  prices.  To-day,  for 
some  inexplicable  reason,  they  have  fallen  into  almost 
complete  neglect  and  have  consequently  lost  most  of 
the  value  they  once  had.  They  may,  however,  at 
some  time  in  the  future,  regain  their  old  rank. 


CHAPTER  III 

On  the  Various  Ways  in  Which  Collections  Have 
Been  Formed 

AS  a  preliminary  remark  it  may  be  said  that 
collections  of  letters  which  are  merely  replies 
to  requests  for  the  autographs  of  the  persons 
addressed  are  not  recognized  as  having  any 
place  in  the  sphere  of  legitimate  collecting  and  are 
practically  without  interest  or  pecuniary  value.  As 
W.  S.  Walsh  says,  in  his  "Handy-Book  of  Literary 
Curiosities":  "Legitimate  collectors  limit  their  fad 
to  the  serious  collection  of  autographs  that  are  in  the 
market.  They  look  down  with  scorn  upon  the  ama- 
teurs who  beg  signatures  that  may  be  had  for  the  ask- 
ing. It  is  the  latter,  indeed,  who  have  brought  the 
autograph-hunter  into  disrepute.  They  are  a  sore  trial 
to  the  patience  and  the  morality  of  statesmen  and  men 
of  letters,  who  are  apt  to  become  ferociously  and  even 
blasphemously  contemptuous." 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  11 

From  the  beginning  of  the  taste  for  gathering  auto- 
graphs, most  of  the  notable  collections  have  been  formed 
by  men  of  education,  refinement,  and  prominence;  and, 
as  a  natural  consequence,  the  ways  they  have  followed 
in  pursuing  their  hobby  have  been  such  as  were  in  com- 
plete accord  with  the  highest  standards  of  propriety. 
Their  acquisitions,  prior  to  the  time  when  the  com- 
merce in  autographs  commenced,  were  almost  exclusively 
by  the  gift  of  masses  of  letters  and  manuscripts  which 
had  accumulated,  for  many  generations,  in  the  archives 
of  families  of  ancient  or  noble  lineage.  When,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  19th  century,  a  large  and  steady  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  collectors  began  to  manifest 
itself,  a  legitimate  business  in  the  purchase  and  sale 
of  autographs  was  developed;  and  men  of  repute  formed 
their  collections  by  the  gradual  acquisition,  either  by 
purchase,  gift,  or  exchange,  of  the  names  they  wanted. 
At  a  later  day,  a  number  of  men  from  whom  better 
things  might  have  been  expected,  resorted  to  methods 
which,  in  varying  degrees,  were  discreditable.  To 
some  of  these  attention  will  now  be  directed. 

One  of  the  best  known  and  most  successful  of  the 
earlier  American  collectors  obtained  a  great  part  of  the 
numerous  letters  that  formed  his  series  of  Cabinet 
Officers,  Governors  of  States,  and  U.  S.  Senators,  by 
writing  to  the  men  who  were  holding  or  had  held  these 


28  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

positions,  and  asking  for  the  date  of  their  election  or 
appointment  to  the  particular  office,  the  time  when  the 
duties  of  the  position  were  assumed,  etc.  His  custom — 
as  he  unblushingly  stated  it  to  a  brother  collector  who 
was  seeking  the  same  kind  of  material — was  to  precede 
the  letter  of  request  for  information  with  one  expressing 
regret  that  no  answer  had  been  received  to  an  inquiry 
contained  in  a  letter  written  on  a  given  date;  no  such 
letter  having  been  written.  He  would  then  get  a  reply, 
saying  that  the  letter  [never  written]  had  not  come  to 
hand;  and  that,  if  the  inquiry  were  repeated,  the  in- 
formation would,  if  possible,  be  given.  Thereupon,  a 
second  letter  was  written,  stating  the  particular  infor- 
mation desired.  Of  course,  it  was  answered;  and  thus, 
as  this  collector  said,  "I  got  two  letters,  instead  of  one, 
from  each  person  addressed,  and  so  acquired  a  good  deal 
of  material  for  exchange."  How  he  could  consider  such 
conduct  as  entirely  honorable  is  something  that  is  not 
easy  to  understand.  But  even  after  obtaining  two 
letters  from  his  unfortunate  victim  he  was  not  content 
to  leave  him  without  further  annoyance.  The  man 
who  had  courteously  replied  to  requests  which  were 
made  under  false  pretence  was  then  importuned,  in  a 
way  which  the  writer  supposed  would  flatter  his  vanity, 
for  letters  of  prominent  persons  who  had  been  his  cor- 
respondents; and  this  appeal  brought  many  hundreds 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  29 

of  autographs  to  his  collection.  He  carried  his  bold- 
ness so  far  as  to  ask  all  the  American  poets,  from  the 
most  eminent  down  to  those  of  mediocre  rank,  for 
full  autograph  copies  of  one  or  more  of  their  best  known 
poems;  and,  strange  to  say,  the  poem  was  almost  always 
sent  entire. 

In  "The  Archivist"  for  July,  1889,  there  is  an  ar- 
ticle entitled  "Pseudo  Autograph  Collectors,"  which 
says:  "We  have  seen  recorded  lately  in  one  of  our 
journals  the  various  devices  by  which  pseudo  collectors 
endeavor  to  obtain  the  autographs  of  eminent  con- 
temporary men  and  women.  .  .  .  Letters  are 
now  written  to  authors  in  praise  of  their  works,  and 
for  an  explanation  of  some  particular  passage,  etc. 
Artists  are  requested  to  give  an  estimate  for  a  certain- 
sized  picture  on  a  given  subject,  and  many  ingenious 
methods  are  adopted,  by  flattery  and  otherwise,  to 
obtain  the  coveted  epistle.  A  genuine  autograph  col- 
lector does  not  stoop  to  such  methods  for  enriching  his 
store.  The  following  story  will  show  how  successful  an 
imposter  was  in  duping  some  of  the  principal  men  of 
the  day.  Thirty-five  years  ago  there  was  a  young 
Frenchman  [we  believe  his  real  name  was  Ludovic 
Picard]  who,  under  various  aliases,  addressed  himself 
to  nearly  every  distinguished  name  in  Europe,  not  for 
any  pecuniary  assistance,   ah  no!  he  had  grown  sick 


30  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

of  life  and  thought  seriously  of  quitting  it.  .  .  .  He 
was  one  of  the  odious  race  of  the  unappreciated;  at 
one  time  an  unfortunate  and  neglected  artist,  at  an- 
other a  poet  or  musician,  whom  the  world  had  used  ill, 
and  driven  to  despair.  Could  the  recipient  of  the  letter 
give  him  any  philosophical  reason  why  he  should  not 
blow  his  brains  out,  etc.  .  .  .  But  he  always  in- 
formed those  to  whom  he  wrote  that  he  would  stay  his 
hand  from  committing  any  rash  act  until  he  had  re- 
ceived their  valuable  counsel  and  advice.  In  this  way 
he  received  some  hundreds  of  communications  in  re- 
sponse to  his  pathetic  appeal,  some  in  anger,  others  in 
jest,  but  by  far  the  greater  number  written  in  sym- 
pathy for  his  wretched  and  forlorn  condition  and  using 
every  argument  to  dissuade  him  from  laying  violent 
hands  on  himself.  It  is  a  pity  so  much  rose-water 
should  have  been  poured  over  such  a  reptile;  as  these 
eloquent  arguments  and  homilies  were  never  read,  but 
when  received  were  sent  at  once  to  a  well-known  auto- 
graph dealer  of  the  Faubourg  Saint  Germain  and  con- 
verted into  ready  cash,  which  the  recipient  dissipated 
upon  his  vagabond  amours  or  at  the  counter  of  an 
auberge.  ...  In  this  way  he  succeeded  in  extract- 
ing letters  from  Beranger,  Heine,  Georges  Sand,  Montal- 
embert,  Dumas,  Eugene  Sue,  Jules  Janin,  Xavier  de 
Maistre,  Lacordaire,  Espartero,  and  Charles  Dickens. 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  31 

The  letter  of  Dickens  was  particularly  sympathetic, 
and  begged  him  to  be  courageous  and  to  bear  the  ills 
that  beset  so  many  people  in  this  life.  .  .  .  With  this 
imposter  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage  bell  for  some  time, 
until  by  merest  chance  he  was  detected  by  Jules  San- 
deau,  the  novelist,  who  had  received  one  of  these  press- 
ing appeals.  Instead  of  answering  it  by  letter,  like  a 
true  Samaritan  he  thought  he  would  go  and  see  'Mis- 
errimus'  himself,  and  try  what  could  be  done  to  help  him 
upon  the  spot.  He  accordingly  went  to  Crenelle, 
from  which  suburb  these  despairing  appeals  were  ad- 
dressed. After  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  the  soi-disant 
suicide  was  discovered  carousing  with  some  boon  com- 
panions at  a  neighboring  cabaret,  and  preparing  to 
draw  up  fresh  leases  of  his  life  in  the  shape  of  more 
pathetic  circulars.  On  his  return  to  Paris  M.  Sandeau 
lost  no  time  in  communicating  with  the  press  and  ex- 
posing the  whole  imposture." 

In  the  month  of  May,  1899,  there  was  sold  at 
auction,  in  Philadelphia,  the  collection  of  autograph 
letters  of  Confederate  and  Union  Cenerals  in  the 
Civil  War,  of  the  persons  who  held  official  positions 
under  the  Confederate  Government,  and  of  a  number 
of  miscellaneous  names  of  other  periods,  that  had  been 
formed  by  Mr.  Belmont  Perry,  a  lawyer  of  W^oodbury, 
N.  J.,  during  the  thirty-five  years  preceding  the  sale. 


32  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  mode  of  formation  of  the  greater  part  of  this  col- 
lection was  exposed  when  the  papers  were  placed  on 
sale.  It  appears  that,  shortly  after  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War,  Mr.  Perry  resolved  to  attempt  to  gather 
autograph  letters  of  all  the  generals  who  had  served  on 
either  side,  and  of  all  other  prominent  Confederate 
characters.  At  this  time,  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
these  men  were  living,  and  it  was  easy  to  communicate 
with  them  by  letter;  the  only  trouble  being  that  inci- 
dent to  ascertaining  their  addresses.  Rightly  sup- 
posing that  an  ordinary  request  for  the  autograph  of 
the  person  addressed  would  meet  with  a  limited  and  an 
unsatisfactory  response,  he  determined  to  pose  as  an 
historian.  He  represented  himself  to  the  ex-Confeder- 
ates who  were  living,  and  to  the  families  of  those  who 
were  dead,  as  having  commenced  the  preparation  of  a 
history  of  the  war,  in  which  full  justice  was  to  be  done 
to  the  part  taken  by  those  who  were  engaged  on  the 
Southern  side;  and  that,  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
purpose,  he  desired  to  obtain,  from  living  generals, 
autograph  letters  giving  their  full  military  records,  and, 
in  some  instances,  autograph  copies  of  certain  short 
military  reports  that  had  been  made  by  them  while  in 
the  field.  The  families  of  the  deceased  generals  were 
asked  to  give,  or  lend^  any  letter  or  letters  in  their  pos- 
session, written  during  the  war,  that  contained  inter- 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  33 

esting  information.  In  addressing  surviving  Union 
generals,  and  the  families  of  those  who  were  no  longer 
living,  he  adopted  the  same  tactics;  except  that  he 
then  became  the  prospective  author  of  a  history  of  the 
war  in  which  the  part  taken  by  all  Union  generals  was 
to  be  fully  shown,  so  that  no  name  should  fail  to  receive 
proper  notice  in  the  pages  of  his  book.  Thus  repre- 
senting the  project  he  had  in  hand,  his  requests  met 
with  a  very  large  response.  The  pitiful  side  of  the  case, 
and  that  which  subjects  it  to  severe  condemnation, 
lies  in  the  fact  that,  in  a  number  of  instances,  the 
widows  of  deceased  generals  sent  him  letters  upon  the 
express  condition  that  they  should  he  returned  after  they 
had  been  copied.  One  widow  wrote  several  times,  beg- 
ging for  the  return  of  the  treasured  letter  of  her  hus- 
band which  was  the  only  one  she  had.  Subsequent 
correspondence  which  Mr.  Perry  had,  unfortunately 
for  himself,  failed  to  destroy,  showed  that  no  attention 
was  paid  to  these  earnest  requests  for  the  return  of  the 
letters  so  lent;  and  they  were  included  in  the  sale 
catalogue. 

A  large  and  interesting  collection  of  autographs 
which  was  sold  at  auction  not  many  years  ago  was 
formed,  in  part,  in  a  way  that  merits  a  very  pronounced 
disapproval.  The  collector  in  question  held  an  impor- 
tant office  which  gave  him  access  to  the  Civil  War  cor- 


34  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

respondence  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  one  of  the 
leading  States.  From  this  source  he  obtained  thou- 
sands of  letters  of  Generals,  addressed  to  the  Governor 
or  Adjutant-General  of  the  State,  on  the  subject  of 
regimental  appointments;  and,  after  reserving  as  many 
of  these  as  he  wanted  for  his  own  use,  the  remainder 
were  exchanged  for  other  names  needed  or  were  sold. 
A  few  years  afterwards,  when  his  collection  had 
become  large  and  he  was  endeavoring  to  complete  all 
the  different  American  series,  he  conceived  the  idea 
that  some  of  the  rare  and  much  sought  for  names  might 
be  discovered  among  the  papers  filed  in  the  offices  of 
Prothonotaries,  Sheriffs,  Registers  of  Wills,  and  other 
County  offices,  as  well  as  in  the  correspondence  pre- 
served among  State  records.  Diligent  search  rewarded 
him  most  bountifully.  He  found  in  one  public  office, 
and  was  allowed  to  take,  as  many  as  fifty,  or  more, 
official  autograph  documents  signed  of  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Congress  of  1774  whose  signature  was  so 
rare  that  the  only  example  of  it  ever  offered  for  sale 
had  commanded  the  price  of  3200.  A  number  of  these 
documents,  when  placed  in  the  hands  of  dealers,  were 
greedily  taken  at  3100  apiece,  each  purchaser  supposing 
he  had  secured  a  great  rarity.  When,  after  a  time,  the 
market  became  glutted  with  them,  their  price  fell  to 
315,  with  few  or  no  takers. 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  35 

The  offices  of  the  Prothonotaries  of  the  Courts  in 
several  States  yielded,  in  like  manner,  quantities  of 
legal  papers  in  the  handwriting  of  men  who  were  law- 
yers by  profession,  and  who  had  been  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  members  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  or  had  held  other  public  positions 
during  the  Revolutionary  contest.  Many  names  that 
had  heretofore  been  very  rare  and  high  priced  became, 
after  the  market  demand  had  been  satisfied  at  large 
prices,  practically  unsalable  on  account  of  the  huge 
supply. 

Visits  were  paid  to  the  Capitols  of  two  Southern 
States;  and  permission  was  given  to  take,  from  the 
papers  remaining  on  file  in  the  offices  of  the  Governor 
and  the  Secretary  of  State,  whatever  was  wanted. 

If  this  over-zealous  collector  had  limited  himself 
to  taking  a  single  specimen  only,  of  any  particular  name, 
for  his  own  use,  the  criticism  attaching  to  his  conduct 
would  be  much  milder;  but  when  whole  bundles  of 
letters  or  documents  of  one  man  were  taken  from  a 
public  office,  to  be  sold  or  used  in  exchange,  a  more  pro- 
nounced disapproval  is  deserved. 

The  last  instance  that  will  be  given  of  highly  im- 
proper ways  of  forming  collections  of  autographs  is 
that  of  Ben  W.  Austin,  of  Sioux  City,  Iowa;  whose  bare- 


36  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

faced  audacity  almost  passes  belief.  Some  time  about 
the  year  1875,  Mr.  Austin  commenced  the  formation 
of  his  collection  by  writing  to  noted  people,  requesting 
their  autographs.  The  measure  of  his  success  is  told 
in  the  following  article  which  appeared,  on  Dec.  14, 
1884,  in  "The  Sunday  Telegram,"  of  Sioux  City. 
"One  of  the  most  extensive  and  valuable  collections  of 
autographs  in  this  country  is  that  possessed  by  Mr. 
Ben  W.  Austin  of  this  city.  It  is  only  by  the  most 
indefatigable  effort,  and  at  great  expense,  that  Mr. 
Austin  has  been  able,  in  nine  years,  to  make  this  col- 
lection. ...  It  has  cost  him  for  postage,  etc.,  at 
least  32000,  and  would  easily  bring,  if  sold  to  a  con- 
noisseur in  the  interesting  art,  310,000.  Some  idea  of 
the  constant  study  and  work  required  in  collecting 
his  3000  or  more  autographs  may  be  had  when  it  is 
known  that  during  1883  Mr.  Austin  wrote  2181  letters 
containing  requests  for  autographs,  and  during  1884, 
when  he  had  not  so  much  time  as  last  year,  he  wrote 
1314  letters  The  autographs  include  those  of  noted 
people  and  men  of  rank  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 
They  are  in  almost  all  known  languages.  .  .  .  This 
grand  collection  is  not  only  a  credit  to  Mr.  Austin, 
whose  enterprise  and  energy  have  secured  such  souve- 
nirs, but  to  Sioux  City  as  well.  Mr.  Austin  is  well  known 
among  the  most  famous  collectors,  and  many  letters 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  37 

express  surprise  that  he,  in  this  'remote  spot,'  should 
take  such  an  interest  in  these  things." 

In  1884  or  1885  he  devised  a  new  plan  for  obtaining 
the  covered  autographs  of  noted  living  people,  in  order 
that  he  might  increase — if  such  a  thing  were  possible 
— his  reputation  as  one  of  the  most  famous  collectors!! 
He  founded  an  imaginary  Society,  to  which  he  gave  the 
imposing  title  of  "The  Northwestern  Literary  and 
Historical  Society,"  and  of  which  he  made  himself  the 
imaginary  Secretary,  with  an  imaginary  George  D, 
Chester,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  as  President.  Equipped  with 
the  requisite  seal  and  with  suitable  stationery,  he 
proceeded,  in  his  capacity  of  Secretary,  to  write  to  men 
of  note  in  all  countries,  informing  them  that  they  had 
been  elected  honorary  members  of  this  Society  in 
recognition  of  their  rank  in  the  world  of  letters,  art,  or 
whatever  profession  or  pursuit  they  followed.  The 
persons  thus  addressed,  taking  it  for  granted  that 
"The  Northwestern  Literary  and  Historical  Society" 
was  a  respectable — perhaps  a  notable — ^American  In- 
stitution, and  doubtless  feeling  flattered  by  the  com- 
plimentary tone  of  the  letter  of  notification,  accepted 
the  honor  of  election  in  letters  such  as  might  be  ex- 
pected from  men  of  politeness  who  were  the  frequent 
recipients  of  such  honors.  After  the  Society — that  is, 
Mr.   Austin — had   elected   an   honorary   member,   and 


38  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

had  received  an  acceptance  of  the  honor  conferred, 
Mr.  Secretary  Austin  would  again  write  to  the  new 
member,  telling  him  how  much  the  Society  would  value 
his  photograph,  to  hang  on  the  wall  of  its  building, 
and  how  grateful  it  would  be  if  he  could  give  it — that  is, 
Mr.  Austin — -for  preservation  among  its  archives,  any 
letters  of  noted  people  of  the  period.  So  far  as  could 
be  judged  from  the  character  of  the  collection  which 
went  to  the  auction  rooms  after  Mr.  Austin's  death, 
these  additional  requests  did  not  seem  to  have  brought 
satisfactory  results.  Perhaps  a  large  part  of  the  very 
considerable  number  of  honorary  members  of  this 
unique  Society  may  have  become  suspicious.  Some 
of  them  may  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  make  inquiries 
about  it.  At  all  events,  when  Mr.  Austin  and  the  im- 
aginary creature  of  his  creation  suffered  the  common 
lot  of  humanity,  and  passed  out  of  existence,  his  be- 
longings— or  perhaps  we  should  say  those  of  the 
Society — were  ruthlessly  sacrificed  under  the  hammer 
of  the  auctioneer,  and  the  proceeds  of  sale,  deducting 
expenses,  were  much  less  than  the  ^2000  which,  ac- 
cording to  "The  Sunday  Telegram,"  had  been  spent 
for  postage. 


FORMING  COLLECTIONS  39 


/7  y^.^  e^.y^^  Oi^^^a-..^^ 


^-^^^.......^    ^  Q^ 


'^-" 


s>^ 


!^j7  ,S,.-.*__  ^>2 (3=^«^.»«-'     «i--^^^        C^^i^'.s^-^   '^■'  '      -=» '^^^^^^-^'^ 


^  ^U^^^  ^^,<^/^,.^.^<i^  x^^. 


*-^^-*  tf«^^ 


"         ^        ...^^— —  •  -^ 

.J^'-^^t.^i.^e-Z'^-' -e^-^        ,^^^t-€^        .-i?-*'!^--*--^        _^jc-r^  '.i^t  <:-«-*-««'  ^^^^-'i^  . 


Autograph  Letter  of  Pierre  Jean  Clays,  the  eminent  Belgian  marine  painter, 
written  to  Benjamin  W.  Austin. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Concerning  Spurious  or  False  Autographs 

TEMPTED  by  the  high  prices  to  be  had  for 
genuine  letters  of  certain  men  or  women  of 
note,  disreputable  people,  skilled  in  imitat- 
ing handwriting  and  having  the  requisite 
amount  of  literary  attainment,  have  sought  to  put 
money  in  their  pockets  by  foisting  upon  trustful  and 
inexperienced  collectors  letters  they  have  manufac- 
tured. While  such  rogues — for  they  can  be  called  by 
no  other  name — have,  in  some  instances,  met  with  a 
fair  measure  of  success,  the  majority  of  them  have  soon 
been  exposed,  and  have  learned  that  dishonesty,  such 
as  they  were  practising,  could  not  thrive. 

They  have  been  of  various  nationalities — French, 
German,  British,  Italian,  and,  in  small  measure, 
American. 

As  a  general  rule  they  have  limited  their  false 
productions  to  a  few  names  for  which,  at  the  time,  there 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  41 

was  a  special  demand.  Some  of  their  work  was  so  good 
as  not  to  be  easily  detected;  but  the  greater  part  of  it 
failed  to  deceive  even  those  who  were  not  experts, 
but  who  exercised  reasonable  judgment  in  considering 
the  question  of  genuineness.  There  are  many  things 
that  the  worker  in  this  nefarious  field  must,  if  he  hopes 
to  be  at  all  successful,  bear  constantly  in  mind.  The 
paper  on  which  he  writes  must  be  of  the  period  at  which 
the  letter  is  to  bear  date;  the  ink  must  have  the  pecu- 
liar appearance  that  age  gives  to  it;  the  handwriting 
must  not  only,  in  general  respects,  be  an  exact  imita- 
tion of  that  which  is  to  be  counterfeited,  but  great 
attention  must  be  paid  to  peculiarities  in  the  formation 
of  certain  letters,  the  capitalization  of  words,  the  spell- 
ing, the  punctuation,  the  style,  the  literary  quality, 
the  date,  the  character  of  the  contents,  etc.  etc.  Be- 
sides all  this,  the  way  in  which  the  letter  is  folded 
must  accord  with  the  custom  of  the  time  at  which  it 
purports  to  have  been  written,  and  its  creases  and  stains 
must  bear  the  appearance  of  genuine  age.  Such  are 
the  difficulties  the  counterfeiter  must  contend  with 
when  he  attempts  to  fabricate  the  contents,  as  well  as 
the  handwriting,  of  a  letter  or  document;  and  the  great- 
est combination  of  skill  and  care  will  scarcely  avail  to 
save  him  from  making  some  error  which  shall  prove 
fatal  to  him.     Where  he  is  merely  making  a  false  du- 


42  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

plication  of  a  genuine  original,  his  pathway  is  a  some- 
what easier  one  to  travel. 

The  trained  eye  rarely  fails  to  detect  the  falsity  of 
an  autograph.  The  skilled  expert  will,  with  perfect 
assurance,  pronounce  for  or  against  the  genuineness  of 
a  letter,  and  will  give  the  exact  reasons  for  his  judgment. 
Nor  can  he  be  deceived  by  any  of  the  tricks  that  are 
used  to  aid  the  acceptance  of  the  forgery;  as,  for  ex- 
ample, the  fact  that,  in  order  to  suggest  age,  the  paper 
has  been  repaired  after  it  has  purposely  been  torn  or 
its  edges  made  ragged.  Such  experts  are,  of  course, 
few  in  number;  but,  of  these  few,  we  occasionally  meet 
with  one  whose  skill  seems  to  come  from  a  sense  of 
intuition. 

M.  Etienne  Charavay,  in  his  excellent  preface  to 
the  catalogue  of  Alfred  Bovet's  collection  of  autographs 
— afterwards  published  as  a  pamphlet,  with  the  title 
of  "La  Science  des  Autographes" — states  some  inter- 
esting facts  relating  to  the  authenticity  of  autographs. 
He  tells  us  that  the  first  fabrications  appeared  in  Paris 
about  1840,  and  that  they  were  in  all  respects — hand- 
writing, style,  paper,  ink,  and  traces  of  seals — well 
done.  When  mingled,  as  they  often  were,  with  numer- 
ous authentic  letters  from  family  papers,  they  were 
accepted  as  genuine.  Such  names  as  those  of  Rabelais 
and  Bayard — of  whom  genuine  letters  are  unknown  in 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  43 

private  collections — were  thus  fabricated.  These  spu- 
rious letters  of  Rabelais  are  dated  from  Italy;  while,  in 
point  of  fact,  at  the  time  they  pretend  to  have  been 
written,  Rabelais  was  in  Paris  or  in  Montpellier.  The 
falsity  of  those  that  appeared  in  the  Tremont  collec- 
tion has  been  established  beyond  question.  But  the 
forger  went  a  step  too  far.  He  was  not  content  to  imi- 
tate handwriting:  he  invented  it.  The  genealogical 
cabinet  of  Letellier  was  filled  with  such  pieces.  They 
were  well  conceived  and  executed;  but  when  examined 
by  experts  and  scholars,  their  falsity  was  determined. 
The  same  hand,  the  same  ink,  appeared  on  letters  of 
persons  living  in  times  far  apart.  Three  names — 
those  of  Racine,  Boileau  and  La  Fontaine — particu- 
larly tempted  the  forger.  Their  handwriting  was  easy 
to  imitate;  the  text  of  the  letters  of  the  first  two  was 
furnished  by  correspondence  in  the  Bibliotheque  Na- 
tionale;  and  that  of  La  Fontaine  was  taken  from  his 
Fables.  Many  of  Letellier's  fabrications  found  their 
way  into  the  Chambry  collection;  but  they  were  re- 
jected by  Charavay,  and  marked  by  him  as  false,  when 
he  prepared  the  catalogue  of  that  collection. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  a  number  of  these 
counterfeit  autographs  have  found  their  way  into 
English  and  American  collections.  If  they  had  first 
been   submitted    to   competent   French   experts,    they 


44  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

would  have  been  rejected  by  the  men  who  bought  them 
in  ignorance  of  their  real  character.  As  M.  Noel 
Charavay  says,  in  a  private  letter,  in  which  he  speaks 
of  letters  of  La  Fontaine  and  Racine:  "Many  spurious 
ones  circulate;  but  this  is  not  easy  in  France,  where 
they  are  hunted  down.  A  dealer  would  be  disqualified 
if  he  ventured  to  sell  any  such,  because  everything  has 
been  done  to  avoid  errors." 

Letters  of  Louis  XVL,  Marie  Antoinette,  and 
Madame  Elisabeth  have  also  been  extensively  counter- 
feited in  France;  while  the  forger  has  occasionally 
turned  his  attention  to  other  names,  of  which  he  has 
produced  either  a  single  specimen  only  or  a  very  lim- 
ited number.  Upon  one  occasion  forty  guineas  were 
paid  for  a  spurious  letter  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  the  work 
of  one  of  these  men. 

No  account  of  French  forgeries  would  be  complete 
without  the  story  of  the  famous  case  of  Vrain  Lucas; 
which  is  told  in  extenso  in  a  pamphlet  written  by  M. 
Etienne  Charavay.  The  forger  was  a  Frenchman  of 
middle  age  and  fair  education  who,  with  the  most 
astounding  audacity,  and  with  unusual  skill,  great 
perseverance,  and  information  gained  from  much  read- 
ing, manufactured  27,000  pieces  which  he  sold  to  M. 
Michel  Chasles — a  noted  geometer  and  mathematician 
— during  a  period  of  eight  years,  for  the  sum  of  140,000 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  45 

francs.  How  M.  Chasles  could  have  been  so  easily 
and  completely  deceived  and  imposed  upon  is  a  marvel. 
It  seems  that,  at  one  time  during  his  dealings  with 
the  forger,  his  suspicions  were  aroused  and  expressed; 
but  they  were  quieted  when  Lucas  promptly  offered 
to  take  back  everything  he  had  sold  and  to  return  the 
money  that  had  been  paid  him. 

A  train  of  events  led  to  the  complete  exposure  of 
these  forgeries.  Prior  to  July,  1867,  M.  Chasles  had 
presented  the  Academy  of  Belgium  with  two  letters 
from  Charles  the  Fifth  [of  Germany]  to  Rabelais. 
They  were  accepted  as  genuine,  though  their  authen- 
ticity was  contested  by  an  expert  whose  authority  to 
speak  could  not  be  denied;  and  their  falsity  was  finally 
settled  by  the  fact  that  they  were  addressed  to  "Master" 
Rabelais — a  form  of  address  not  then  in  use — and  that 
one  of  them  bore  a  pretended  endorsement,  by  Rabelais, 
of  "Letter  from  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth," 
whereas,  during  his  lifetime  he  was  never  mentioned 
otherwise  than  as  "The  Emperor." 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  French  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences was  profoundly  moved  by  the  production,  by 
M.  Chasles,  of  letters  written  by  the  great  Pascal  to 
Boyle  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  showing  that  he,  and  not 
Newton,  was  the  discoverer  of  the  law  of  gravitation. 
These  letters  aroused  the  interest  of  the  scientific  world 


46  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

in  England  and  France,  and  their  genuineness  was  de- 
bated for  a  considerable  time;  but  when  Sir  David 
Brewster  showed  that  Newton  was  a  child  of  less  than 
eleven  years  of  age  at  the  date  of  the  pretended  letters 
of  Pascal  addressed  to  him,  and  a  French  critic  called 
attention  to  an  admitted  historical  fact  showing  that 
Pascal  could  not  have  written  the  letters,  the  contro- 
versy came  to  an  abrupt  end.  The  falsity  of  another 
letter,  addressed  by  Pascal  to  Queen  Christina,  was 
demonstrated  by  the  forger's  use  of  certain  words  that 
were  unknown  in  Pascal's  time  and  by  the  discovery  of 
the  fact  that  the  contents  of  the  letter  were  similar  to, 
and  in  large  part  identical  with,  the  language  of  a 
certain  Eulogy  on  Descartes. 

M.  Chasles  rather  unwillingly  yielded  to  the  press- 
ure of  his  friends  and  dislosed  the  name  of  the  man 
from  whom  he  had  obtained  these  papers.  The  forger 
was  tried  before  the  tribunal  of  the  Seine  on  February 
16,  1870,  was  convicted  of  swindling,  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  an  imprisonment  of  two  years  and  the  pay- 
ment of  a  fine  of  500  francs. 

At  the  trial  M.  Chasles  testified  that  when  Lucas 
first  came  to  him  he  stated  that  a  great  quantity  of 
valuable  autograph  letters  originally  gathered  by  the 
Comte  de  Boisjourdain,  an  emigrant  to  America  in  the 
year  1790,  who  had  perished  in  a  shipwreck,  but  whose 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  47 

collection  had  been  saved,  had  been  placed  in  his 
hands  to  sell.  M.  Chasles  believed  this  story  and 
bought  whatever  was  brought  to  him.  All  of  the  im- 
mense number  named,  except  about  one  hundred,  of 
small  value,  were  false.  The  list  of  his  purchases  is 
an  amazing  one,  almost  passing  belief.  In  addition 
to  most  of  the  important  names  of  the  15th,  16th  and 
17th  centuries — including  Ariosto,  Boccacio,  Boileau, 
Cervantes,  Dante,  Labruyere,  Luther,  Montaigne, 
Rabelais,  Racine,  Raphael,  Shakespeare,  and  Spinoza 
— we  find  the  following:  five  letters  from  Abelard; 
five  from  Alcibiades  to  Pericles;  six  from  Alexander 
the  Great  to  Aristotle;  three  from  Cleopatra  to  Caesar, 
to  Cato,  and  to  Pompey;  ten  from  Pontius  Pilate  to 
Tiberius;  and  one,  each,  from  Archimedes  to  Hiero, 
from  Anacreon,  from  Arcesilaus  to  Euripides,  from 
Atilla  to  a  Gallic  general;  from  Belisarius;  from  Julius 
Csesar  to  Vercingetorix;  from  Caligula;  from  Charle- 
magne to  Alcuin;  from  Cicero;  from  ^Eschylus  to  Pytha- 
goras; from  Germius  Julius  to  Jesus  Christ;  from 
Herod  to  Lazarus;  from  Judas  Iscariot  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene; from  Lazarus  to  St.  Peter;  from  Mahomet  to 
the  king  of  France;  from  Ovid;  from  Pliny;  from  Plu- 
tarch; from  Pompey;  and  from  Suetonius. 

Though,  for  the  purposes  of  his  forgeries,  Lucas 
had  found  an  ink  of  the  proper  quality,  and  though  he 


48  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

sought  to  give  the  appearance  of  old  age  to  his  produc- 
tions by  exposing  them,  after  their  completion,  to  the 
flame  of  a  lamp,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  write  all  of  them  in 
modern  French  and  on  paper  from  the  mills  of  Angou- 
lemell 

As  natural  curiosity  inspires  the  desire  to  know 
something  about  the  contents  of  these  letters,  three  or 
four  of  them  will  be  given  in  full. 


Letter  from  Queen  Cleopatra 

Cleopatra,  Queen,  to  her  very  beloved  Julius  Caesar, 
Emperor. 

My  very  beloved.  Our  son  Cesarion  is  well.  I 
hope  that  he  will  soon  be  able  to  support  the  travel 
from  here  to  Marseilles,  where  I  need  to  send  him  to 
study,  as  much  for  the  good  air  that  one  breathes  there 
as  for  the  fine  things  which  are  taught.  I  beg  you  to 
tell  me  how  long  you  will  still  remain  in  that  country, 
for  I  want  myself  to  take  our  son  there  and  see  you  on 
this  occasion.  This  is  to  tell  you,  my  very  beloved, 
the  pleasure  I  feel  when  I  am  near  you,  and  meanwhile 
I  pray  the  gods  to  have  you  in  their  guard. 

The  XI  March  year  of  Rome  VCCIX. 

Cleopatra. 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  49 


Letter  from  Lazarus,  the  Resuscitated,  to  St. 

Peter 

My  dear  friend  Petrus.  You  tell  me  you  have 
noticed  in  the  writings  of  Caesar  and  in  those  of  Cicero 
that  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  Druids' 
religion  consists  in  sacrificing  savage  men.  It  is  true 
they  take  in  an  erroneous  sense  this  principle,  that  men 
can  only  appreciate  the  life  God  gave  them  by  offering 
Him  the  life  of  a  man.  They  have  continued  that  in- 
human and  bloody  practice  until  the  time  of  Cicero. 
This  is  why  he  says  that  they  soil  and  profane  their 
temple  and  their  altars  by  offering  there  human  vic- 
tims, and  here  Cicero  is  right  in  insulting  a  worship  so 
barbarous,  saying  it  is  a  strange  thing  that  to  satisfy 
for  what  they  owe  to  their  religion  they  must  first  dis- 
honor it  by  some  murder.  They  can  not  be  religious 
without  being  homicides.  The  infamy  of  this  horrible 
maxim  has  reflected  on  all  the  Gauls,  even  if  it  has  been 
practised  only  in  some  places.  But  the  arms  and  the 
conquest  of  the  Romans  have  wiped  out  this  infamy 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  practised  anywhere  now. 
Amen.     This  X  August  XLVIL 

Lazarus. 


50  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Letter  from  Mary  Magdalene  to  Lazarus,  the 
Resuscitated 

My  very  beloved  brother.  That  which  you  tell 
us  of  Petrus,  the  Apostle  of  our  meek  Jesus,  gives  us 
hope  that  soon  we  shall  see  him  here  and  I  dispose  my- 
self to  receive  him  well.  Our  sister  Martha  also  re- 
joices of  it.  Her  health  is  very  tottering  and  I  fear 
her  passing  away.  This  is  why  I  recommend  her  to 
your  good  prayers.  The  good  girls  who  have  come  to 
place  themselves  under  our  guidance  are  admirable  for 
us  and  make  us  the  most  amiable  caresses.  It  is 
enough  said,  my  very  beloved  brother,  that  our  sojourn 
in  these  countries  of  the  Gaul  pleases  us  much,  that  we 
have  no  desire  to  leave  it,  also  none  of  our  friends  sug- 
gest it.  Do  you  not  think  that  those  Gauls  who  were 
thought  barbarian  nations  are  not  at  all  so,  and  judg- 
ing only  by  what  we  have  learned  it  must  be  from 
these  that  the  light  of  science  started.  I  have  a  great 
desire  to  see  you  and  beg  our  Lord  may  have  you  in 
favor.     This  X  June  XLVL 

Magdalene. 


SPURIOUS  ylUTOGRAPIIS 


Letter  from  Alexander  the  Great,  King  of 
Macedonia 

Alexander  rex,  to  his  very  beloved  Aristotle — Greeting. 

My  beloved  I  am  not  satisfied  because  you  have 
made  public  certain  of  your  books  which  you  had  to 
keep  under  the  seal  of  secrecy,  for  it  is  a  profanation  of 
their  value;  and  no  more  render  them  public  without 
my  consent.  As  to  what  you  asked  of  me,  to  travel  to 
the  country  of  the  Gauls  in  order  to  learn  the  sciences 
of  the  Druids,  of  whom  Pythagoras  made  so  fine  a 
eulogy,  not  only  do  I  permit  you  but  I  entreat  you  to 
go  for  the  good  of  my  people,  as  you  are  not  ignorant 
in  what  esteem  I  hold  that  nation  which  I  consider  as 
the  one  that  carries  the  light  in  the  world.  I  salute 
you.  This  XX  of  the  Kalends  of  May,  year  of  the  CV 
Olympiad. 

Alexander. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Same  Subject  Continued 

SINCE   the   notable   forgeries   spoken   of   in   the 
preceding    chapter,    a    number    of    Frenchmen 
have  engaged,  in  a  comparatively  small  way,  in 
the  same  disreputable  business;  but  their  work 
was  poor  and  was  soon  detected. 

Let  us  now  inquire  what  contribution  Italy,  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  and  the  United  States  have  made 
to  this  tribe  of  counterfeiters.  Italy  has  furnished 
its  quota.  Their  productions — chiefly  of  a  few  of  the 
most  noted  early  painters,  sculptors,  and  literary  men 
— ^were  so  good  as  to  pass  current  with  many  persons 
who  had  insufficient  experience  and  who  did  not  seek 
the  advice  of  an  expert.  Prudent  collectors  must, 
therefore,  be  on  their  guard  when  considering  the  pur- 
chase of  a  rare  Italian  name  from  one  who  is  not  known 
as  a  dealer  of  established  reputation  for  integrity  and 
sound  judgment  of  genuineness. 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  53 

In  Great  Britain,  a  number  of  people  have  been 
diligent,  since  the  middle  of  the  19th  century,  in  plying 
this  contemptible  vocation.  They  have  turned  their 
attention  principally  to  the  names  of  Burns,  Byron, 
Keats,  Shelley,  Scott  and  Nelson;  to  which,  at  a  later 
date,  they  added  Thackeray  and  Dickens.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule — the  most  notable  exception  to  which  will 
presently  be  noticed — some  particular  forger  devoted 
his  energies  to  the  production  of  spurious  letters  of  one 
person  only.  The  forger  of  Thackeray  letters  brought 
detection  upon  himself  by  his  wretched  attempts  to 
make  the  contents  of  his  productions  comparable,  in 
wit  and  literary  style,  with  those  of  the  great  novelist. 
The  Keats  letters,  which  came  from  the  hand  of  the 
man  now  to  be  named  In  connection  with  the  Byron 
and  Shelley  forgeries,  were  well  done;  careful  attention 
having  been  paid  to  all  the  details  which  aid  in  procuring 
deception. 

In  the  year  1848,  a  young  man  who  assumed  the 
name  of  George  Gordon  Byron  and  claimed,  though 
falsely,  to  be  a  natural  son  of  Lord  Byron,  arranged  for 
the  publication  of  a  volume  of  the  poet's  writings,  sup- 
plementary to  the  edition  published  by  Mr.  Murray  In 
1832.  He  pretended  to  have  come  Into  possession  of 
original  material  sufficient  for  this  purpose.  Notice 
of  the  intended  publication  had  been  given,  when  it 


54  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


was  ascertained  that  this  pretender  had  been  denied 
access  to  any  papers  in  possession  of  the  family.  Thus 
exposed,  he  went  to  New  York;  where  he  made  the  same 
effort,  but  with  no  greater  success.  He  returned  to 
London  in  the  winter  of  1850,  and  shortly  thereafter 
the  Byron  and  Shelley  forgeries  made  their  appearance 
at  an  auction  sale  in  the  rooms  of  Messrs.  Sotheby  & 
Wilkinson.  The  auctioneers  had  received  them  from  a 
Pail  Mall  bookseller  named  White,  who  had  obtained 
them  from  the  "pseudo  Byron."  The  Shelley  forgeries 
were  admirably  executed  and  were  published  by  Moxon 
in  1852;  but  nearly  the  entire  edition  was  taken  up  and 
destroyed  after  the  forgery  was  established  by  the  dis- 
covery that  the  contents  of  the  letters  consisted  of 
copies  of  letters  in  old  periodicals. 

Forty-seven  counterfeit  Byron  letters,  which  Mr. 
White  had  bought  from  their  maker  at  half  a  guinea 
apiece,  were  resold  to  John  Murray,  the  publisher,  for 
£123.7.6.  They  were  characterized  as  "a  monument 
of  criminal  ingenuity";  the  greatest  pains  having  been 
taken  to  give  them  such  post-marks,  stamps,  seals,  etc., 
as  should  convey  the  appearance  of  genuineness. 

Dr.  Scott  gives  such  a  full  and  interesting  account 
of  the  wholesale  forgeries  of  letters  of  Robert  Burns 
and  Sir  Walter  Scott  perpetrated  in  Edinburgh,  that 
no  excuse  need  be  made  for  reproducing  it,  in  a  con- 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  55 

densed  form,  In  his  own  words:  "For  a  period  of  ten 
years,  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  con- 
stant stream  of  forged  documents  issued  from  Edin- 
burgh, consisting  of  pretended  writings  of  Marie  Stuart, 
Bothwell,  James  I.,  Charles  I.,  Cromwell,  Charles  II., 
Claverhouse,  the  Young  Pretender,  John  Knox,  Rob 
Roy,  Burns,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  many  other  eminent 
persons.  The  culprit  was  a  nam  named  Smith  who,  on 
June  27,  1893,  was  sentenced  to  twelve  months'  im- 
prisonment. The  mass  of  his  spurious  writing  became 
so  formidable  that  every  large  city  in  the  United  King- 
dom has  been  almost  inundated  with  it.  And  yet, 
after  all,  notwithstanding  the  exaggerated  statements 
as  to  the  ability  and  skill  of  the  forger,  nothing  could 
be  clumsier,  more  careless  or  commonplace,  than  the 
products  of  his  pen.  No  dealer  or  auctioneer,  no  one 
connected  w^ith  public  museums,  seems  to  have  hesi- 
tated for  a  moment  in  condemning  these  forgeries. 
It  appears  that  for  documents  of  great  historic  im- 
portance, for  original  poems  of  Burns  never  yet  pub- 
lished, for  letters  of  Thackeray,  Scott,  and  others. 
Smith  obtained  prices  ranging  only  from  Is.  to  15s. 
His  chief  patrons  appear  to  have  been  Edinburgh 
tradesmen,  Mr.  James  Mackenzie,  a  chemist  and  F.  S. 
A.,  Mr.  James  Stillie,  a  bookseller,  and  Mr.  Andrew 
Brown,  also  a  bookseller. 


56  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

In  May,  1891,  what  were  called  "The  RiUbank 
Crescent  Manuscripts"  w^ere  sold  by  auction  in  Edin- 
burgh. They  comprised  letters  of  Burns,  Scott,  and 
various  historical  documents — now  believed  to  have 
been  manufactured  by  Smith;  but  the  small  prices 
realized  proved  that  the  public  had  but  little  faith  in 
them.  The  auctioneer  refused  to  warrant  them. 
Five  letters  of  Burns — one  containing  a  poem — fetched 
only  from  £1  to  30s.  each.  In  the  "Cumnock  Express" 
for  August  12,  1892,  Mr.  Mackenzie  published  a  letter 
of  Robert  Burns  addressed  to  a  certain  "John  Hill, 
weaver,"  as  to  an  old  friend  living  at  Cumnock,  about 
the  time  of  the  poet's  marriage.  This  clue  sufficed  to 
expose  the  whole  forgery.  Immediately  after  the  pub- 
lication of  this  letter,  its  genuineness  was  challenged 
by  Messrs.  James  Angus,  of  Edinburgh,  and  Colville- 
Scott,  of  Brookwood,  Surrey;  who  proposed  that  it 
should  be  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  British  Mu- 
seum experts.  This  offer  was  refused  by  Mr.  Macken- 
zie, who  declared  he  had  been  a  Burns  collector  for 
twenty-five  years;  and  was  fortified  with  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Stillie,  a  veteran  Burns  student,  who  testified 
to  the  undoubted  truth  of  the  document,  and  also  of 
others  which  he  proceeded  to  publish,  viz. :  a  "Song  to 
the  Rosebud"  and  "The  Poor  Man's  Prayer,"  which 
he  affirmed,  and  challenged  any  one  to  deny,  were  the 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  57 

evident  product  of  Burns.  Unfortunately,  however, 
for  Mr.  Mackenzie,  diligent  inquiry  could  discover  no 
trace  of  any  such  person  as  "John  Hill,  the  weaver"; 
and  "The  Poor  Man's  Prayer,"  vaunted  as  the  pure 
oifspring  of  the  poet's  muse,  was  traced  to  the  "London 
Magazine"  for  1766,  when  Burns  was  only  seven  years 
old.  Its  real  author  was  Dr.  W.  PI.  Roberts,  who  be- 
came Provost  of  Eton  in  1781.  Even  then  Mr.  Macken- 
zie would  not  admit  that  he  was  convinced.  When 
pressed  to  state  the  source  from  which  he  had  ob- 
tained his  extraordinary  treasures,  he  gave  a  curious 
history  of  an  old  cabinet  purchased  by  him,  which  con- 
tained a  secret  drawer  in  which  a  bundle  of  papers 
were  found. 

Though  the  bubble  had  now  burst,  it  was  some 
time  before  the  extent  of  the  frauds  was  fully  revealed. 
A  lot  of  manuscripts  presented  by  Mr.  Kennedy,  a 
banker  of  New  York,  to  the  Lenox  Library,  turned  out 
to  be  forgeries.  Some  documents  which  had  been 
presented  to  the  Edinburgh  Town  Council  had  like- 
wise to  be  condemned.  A  number  of  Burns  and  Scott 
letters  which  Mr.  Stillie,  already  named  as  a  Burns  col- 
lector, had  sold  to  Mr.  W.  W.  Cadell  in  1899,  wxre  in- 
spected by  several  competent  experts,  and  pronounced 
worthless;  as  neither  paper,  writing,  ink,  nor  style  bore 
any  resemblance  to  that  employed  in  genuine  letters 
of  Burns  or  Scott. 


58  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  forger — ^Alexander  Hamilton  Smith,  nick- 
named "Antique"  Smith  from  his  surrounding  himself 
with  curiosities  of  various  kinds — is  [circa  1893]  a 
little  over  thirty  years  of  age,  has  a  sallow  complexion, 
dark  moustache,  and  small  side  whiskers.  His  ex- 
pression is  dull,  but  his  manner  is  described  as  being 
very  plausible  and  interesting.  His  education,  which 
has  been  exaggerated,  did  not  prevent  the  perpetration 
of  the  grossest  mistakes  in  grammar  and  historic  dates 
and  circumstances.  His  occupation  was  that  of  a 
copying  clerk  in  legal  offices. 

His  modus  operandi  consisted  in  purchasing  cheap 
folios  with  fly-leaves,  preferring  those  bound  in  vellum, 
the  fly-leaves  and  vellum  being  soaked  and  prepared 
to  give  the  appearance  of  age.  But  so  carelessly  were 
the  forgeries  perpetrated  that  the  ink  of  all  the  manu- 
scripts, whether  centuries  old  or  of  quite  recent  date, 
was  almost  the  same,  and  whole  batches  of  letters  dat- 
ing from  1757  to  1858,  and  bearing  the  names  of  such 
different  persons  as  Edmund  Burke,  Gen.  Abercromby, 
Robert  Burns,  Grattan,  Thackeray,  and  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  began  and  concluded  in  the  same  words.  All  the 
documents  were  evidently  done  by  the  same  hand;  the 
letters  were  usually  very  brief,  and  were  laboured  and 
clumsy  imitations.     No  care  had  been  taken  to  pro- 


SPURIOUS  yJUTOGRJPIIS  59 

cure  paper  such  as  the  supposed  writers  were  in  the 
habit  of  using.  That,  for  example,  used  for  the  Burns 
forgeries  was  coarse,  rough,  and  bore  the  appearance 
of  having  been  extracted  from  books.  The  poems  were 
written  on  two  kinds  of  paper — one  modern  cartridge, 
the  other  of  a  bluish  colour,  of  a  coarse  make  and  glossy, 
like  that  used  for  making  legal  drafts,  quite  unlike 
any  ever  used  by  the  poet.  The  aspect  of  age  was  given 
by  washing  or  soaking  with  some  yellow  substance, 
and  the  soiling  and  worn  appearance  was  done  very 
artificially  by  drawing  the  paper  across  a  wet,  dirty 
surface.  All  the  pretended  signatures  were  evidently 
copied  from  one  model.  The  subscription,  "I  remain," 
usually  found  In  these  letters,  was  very  unusual  with 
Burns.  One  of  the  verses  ascribed  to  Burns  was 
Pope's. 

The  Sir  Walter  Scott  letters  showed  only  a  super- 
ficial resemblance  to  his  hand.  They  were  not  written 
on  letter-paper,  as  was  Scott's  method,  but  on  coarse 
paper  artificially  tinted;  and  they  were  folded  In  a 
manner  different  from  the  custom  of  the  time.  Four 
letters,  dated  1801,  1804,  1818  and  1820,  are  all  writ- 
ten on  pieces  of  exactly  the  same  size,  bearing  the 
same  water-mark,  and  addressed  to  the  same  person. 
Numbers  of  them  begin  'T  have  your  letter,"  and  end 
"I  remain";  language  which  Scott  rarely  employed. 


60  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

In  some  of  the  pretended  ancient  documents,  the 
paper  of  which  had  evidently  been  taken  out  of  old 
books,  there  were  worm-holes,  and  these  were  clearly 
more  ancient  than  the  writing,  since  the  writer  had 
been  at  pains  to  avoid  the  holes.  As  Burns  was  an 
Excise-man,  paper  with  the  Excise  heading  was  often 
employed,  but  dated  before  Burns  was  thus  occupied. 
To  put  people  off  their  guard,  various  endorsements 
were  written  on  the  backs  of  the  pretended  autographs, 
as  if  by  James  Hogg,  the  "Ettrick  Shepherd,"  Macken- 
zie, author  of  "The  Man  of  Feeling,"  and  others.  The 
strokes  of  writing,  especially  when  examined  by  a 
powerful  lens,  were  seen  to  be  shaky  and  broken. 

Autograph  signatures  on  the  fly-leaves  and  title- 
pages  of  worthless  books  were  manufactured  and  sold 
in  great  numbers. 

As  there  are  so  many  of  these  forgeries  floating 
about,  it  should  be  remembered  that  Burns  always 
wrote  on  large-sized  sheets  of  paper,  possessing  a 
peculiar  texture  and  a  roughish  surface,  rather  thick, 
and  never  glossy;  that  his  usual  signature  was  "Robt.," 
not  "Robert"  Burns;  that  his  handwriting  is  free,  bold 
and  flowing;  and  that  his  writing  at  different  periods 
varies  far  less  than  with  most  persons." 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Same  Subject  Concluded 

IN  Germany,  as  In  other  European  countries,  the 
counterfeiters  of  autographs  have,  at  various 
times,  plied  their  busy  pens  with  varying  degrees 

of  success. 

Many  years  ago  a  friend  of  the  writer  prepared  for 
a  monthly  publication  containing  matter  of  interest  to 
autograph  collectors,  a  short  account  of  certain  ex- 
tensive and,  for  a  time,  successful  forgeries  which  were 
the  work  of  a  certain  Baron  von  Gerstenbergh,  of 
Weimar.  Somewhere  about  the  year  1850,  he  began 
to  forge  letters  of  the  poet  Schiller.  He  entered  upon 
his  course  of  deception  with  a  degree  of  circumspection 
and  assiduity  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  Having  made 
the  life  of  Schiller  a  special  study,  and  living  in  the  very 
city  where  the  poet  spent  the  best  years  of  his  life,  he 
was  enabled  to  compose  letters  which  bore  every  in- 


62  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

ternal  evidence  of  being  authentic.  Long  practice  had 
made  him  almost  perfect  in  the  imitation  of  the  poet's 
handwriting,  and  he  resorted  to  every  possible  device 
to  give  his  forgeries  the  appearance  of  antiquity. 
Moreover,  in  order  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  he 
purchased  a  number  of  genuine  letters,  at  a  high  price, 
in  order  to  sell  them  to  those  persons  who  would  be 
most  likely  to  detect  a  forgery;  while  the  spurious 
productions  went  to  those  who  could  easily  be  imposed 
upon.  For  a  while  he  prospered  beyond  his  antici- 
pations. The  collectors  of  Europe  were  anxious  to 
obtain  the  autographic  treasures  he  offered  them, 
which  he  claimed  to  have  obtained  from  certain  lately 
deceased  friends  and  correspondents  of  the  poet.  He 
even  succeeded  in  deceiving  Schiller's  daughter  to  such 
an  extent  that  she  purchased  from  him  certain  pre- 
tended unpublished  manuscripts  of  her  father  for 
nearly  1500  thalers.  Emboldened  by  success,  Gersten- 
bergh,  who  imagined  himself  a  poet,  began  to  compose 
stanzas,  to  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  attach  the 
name  of  Schiller.  These  were  so  execrable,  that  it  was 
felt  at  once  they  could  not  possibly  be  genuine.  The 
matter  was  referred  to  a  number  of  expert  autograph 
collectors,  who  unanimously  decided  that  nearly  all  the 
papers  sold  by  Gerstenbergh  were  forgeries,  and  at 
the  same  time  pointed  out  infallible  means  for  their 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  63 

detection.  On  the  27th  of  February,  1856,  the  forger 
was  arraigned  before  the  criminal  court  of  Weimar,  and 
after  a  long  and  very  interesting  trial  was  condemned 
to  an  imprisonment  of  two  years  and  six  months,  be- 
sides the  payment  of  a  heavy  fine. 

If  other  wholesale  forgeries  have  been  perpetrated 
in  Germany,  as  may  be  the  case,  they  have  not  gained 
the  notoriety  which  would  make  them  known  to  the 
world  at  large. 

An  American  collector,  whose  judgment  of  the 
genuineness  of  an  autograph  is  not  only  founded  on 
long  experience,  but  is  largely  a  matter  of  intuition, 
purchased,  some  ten  years  ago,  from  an  entirely  repu- 
table dealer  in  Berlin,  what  was  believed  to  be  a  full 
autograph  letter  of  Count  Wallenstein,  the  central 
figure  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  It  was  signed  with 
his  full  signature;  not  with  the  wretched  sign -manual 
which  is  almost  undecipherable.  When  the  purchaser 
examined  it,  something  which  he  could  not  define,  in 
the  general  appearance  of  the  letter,  suggested  a  doubt, 
almost  equivalent  to  a  conviction,  that  it  was  not  gen- 
uine. Thereupon  he  returned  it  to  the  dealer,  with  a 
request  that  it  should  be  submitted  to  three  well  known 
experts  on  autographs  of  the  period  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  and  its  authenticity  or  falsity  determined 
by  them.    Accordingly,  this  was  done;  when  two  of  the 


64  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

selected  experts  pronounced  It  a  counterfeit,  while  the 
third  declared  himself  unable  to  speak  with  positive- 
ness.  Of  course,  the  collector  did  not  take  the  letter. 
There  remain,  for  notice,  brief  statements  of  the 
few  forgeries  that  have  occurred  in  the  United  States. 
In  the  year  1860,  a  man  calling  himself  James  W. 
Turner,  and  writing  from  Washington,  D.  C,  made  the 
bold  attempt  to  manufacture  letters  of  those  Signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  whose  autographs 
were  either  very  rare  or  practically  unobtainable.  He 
knew  that  but  one  full  letter  of  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr., 
and  nothing  better  than  a  letter  signed  by  Button 
Gwinnett,  existed.  Brotherhead's  "Book  of  the  Sign- 
ers" had  recently  been  published,  and  furnished  Turner 
with  the  materials  for  his  venture.  He  commenced 
operations  by  sending  to  a  Philadelphia  dealer  a  letter 
purporting  to  be  written  by  Lynch  and  signed  by  him 
and  Christopher  Gadsden.  In  view  of  the  rarity  of 
the  autograph,  he  named  $2S  as  the  price  for  it.  It 
was  shown  to  three  Philadelphia  collectors,  two  of 
whom  were  willing  to  purchase  it  if  the  price  were  re- 
duced, while  a  third  unhesitatingly  declared  it  to  be  a 
counterfeit,  and  expressed  his  intention  to  expose  the 
counterfeiter.  Accordingly,  he  wrote  to  Turner,  say- 
ing that  he  was  collecting  a  set  of  the  Signers,  was  in 
need  of  certain  names — Lynch  being  one  of  them — 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  65 

and  that  he  would  hke  to  know  whether  Mr.  I'urncr 
could  supply  him  with  any  of  them.  A  quick  response 
came,  accompanied  by  two  letters  of  Lynch  that  w^ere 
substantially  duplicates  of  the  one  sent  to  the  Phila- 
delphia dealer,  and  stating  that,  if  informed  of  the 
wants  of  the  collector,  the  writer  could  probably  furnish 
many  of  the  names  desired.  The  fraud  was  thus  un- 
covered and  exposed  in  time  to  prevent  more  than  a 
very  few  inexperienced  and  trustful  persons  from  being 
imposed  upon. 

At  about  the  same  time  an  Englishman,  calling 
himself  Robert  Spring,  and  living  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  carried  on  a  small  business  as  a  dealer  in  books, 
autographs,  engravings,  etc.,  boldly  resorted  to  the 
manufacture  of  autographs,  as  an  aid  to  obtaining 
means  for  the  support  of  his  family.  He  made  no  effort 
to  conceal  this  fact  from  his  customers  in  Philadelphia; 
telling  them  that  he  had  no  thought  of  offering  them 
anything  that  was  not  genuine;  but  that  the  productions 
of  his  pen  were  intended  only  for  persons  residing 
abroad,  who  were  not  regular  collectors.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  he  frequently  obtained,  by  traveling  through 
the  States  and  visiting  the  homes  of  the  descendants 
of  Revolutionary  characters,  considerable  numbers  of 
valuable  letters  which  he  sold  at  fair  prices  to  the 
few  collectors  who  regularly  bought  from  him.     Being 


66  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

a  most  expert  penman,  he  applied  himself,  for  weeks 
and  months,  to  practice  in  imitating  the  handwriting 
of  Gen.  Washington.  When  he  felt  that  he  had  mas- 
tered it  he  would  provide  himself  with  paper  of  the 
period,  sufficiently  stained  or  darkened;  and  with  a 
quill  pen,  using  ink  of  suitable  quality  and  colour,  would 
write — not  trace  or  copy — what  purported  to  be  an 
original  letter  or  document,  the  contents  being  of  his 
own  composition,  while  he  had  a  genuine  letter  spread 
before  his  eyes  to  guide  him  in  his  work.  In  this  way 
he  wrote  dozens  of  short  letters  or  small  military  docu- 
ments of  Gen.  Washington,  in  which  the  handwriting, 
easy  for  Spring  to  simulate,  so  closely  resembled  that 
of  the  General  as  to  pass  current  with  most  people. 
Most  of  his  forgeries  were  of  this  one  name.  He  tried 
his  hand  at  a  few  other  names,  such  as  Jefferson,  Frank- 
lin, and  some  rare  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, by  the  usual  mode  of  tracing  from  lithographic 
fac-similes;  but  this  work  was  not  well  done  and  was 
seldom  offered  for  sale. 

He  was  in  the  habit  of  sending  these  spurious 
papers,  in  three  or  four  different  assumed  names,  to 
members  of  the  English  nobility  and  gentry  and  to 
Canadians,  representing  himself,  in  various  persona- 
tions, as  a  widow  in  want,  a  daughter  of  Gen.  ''Stone- 
wall" Jackson,  in  needy  circumstances,  and  in  other 


SPURIOUS  AUTOGRAPHS  67 

characters  which  he  thought  might  appeal  to  kind- 
hearted  people  of  means.  When  he  wrote  as  a  widow, 
the  letter  would  say  that  she  had  found  the  enclosed 
paper  among  her  husband's  effects,  that  she  believed  it 
to  be  valuable,  and  would  the  gentleman  whom  she 
addressed  have  pity  on  the  widow  and  the  fatherless 
and  send  her  whatever  he  might  think  the  document 
was  worth.  These  appeals  were  quite  successful,  and 
many  supposed  autographs  of  Gen.  Washington  thus 
passed  into  the  possession  of  people  who  bought  them 
from  a  feeling  of  sympathy  rather  than  from  a  desire  to 
obtain  a  valuable  paper  at  a  small  price. 

Spring  was  arrested  several  times  for  obtaining 
money  under  false  pretences;  but  always  escaped  pun- 
ishment by  confessing  his  guilt,  declaring  that  he  had 
never  sent  his  productions  to  any  persons  in  the  United 
States,  and  by  pleading  that  he  had  resorted  to  this  line 
of  conduct  solely  in  order  to  obtain  means  for  the 
support  of  his  large  family.  For  a  number  of  years 
prior  to  his  death  he  led  a  correct  life. 

Before  concluding  the  subject  considered  in  this 
chapter  and  the  two  preceding  ones,  attention  should 
be  called  to  the  fact  that  lithographic — and,  in  recent 
years,  photographic — copies  of  letters  which  appeared 
as  illustrations  in  biographical  or  other  publications 
have  been  offered  for  sale,  sometimes  in  good  faith,  and 


68  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

occasionally  have  been  accepted  as  genuine  original 
letters.  Though,  in  the  case  of  comparatively  old 
lithographs,  time  and  discoloration  have  helped  to  aid 
the  deception,  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  any  person 
of  intelligence  and  judgment  could  be  so  imposed  on. 
Any  expert  would  recognize  their  real  character  at  a 
moment's  glance.  Among  the  most  familiar  instances 
of  such  fac-similes  are  Washington's  well-known  letter 
to  Francis  Hopkinson  [originally  published  as  an  illus- 
tration in  an  old  Philadelphia  Magazine],  Lord  Byron's 
to  Mr.  Galignani  [18,  Rue  Vivienne,  Paris],  and  Lord 
Nelson's  to  Thomas  Lloyd  [No.  15,  Mary's  Buildings, 
St.  Martin's  Lane,  London].  A  sure  way  to  determine 
whether  a  paper  is  an  original  or  a  fac-simile  is  to  touch 
a  single  letter  of  a  word  with  a  minute  drop  of  diluted 
muriatic  acid.  In  the  case  of  a  lithograph  or  photo- 
graph the  spot  touched  will  not  be  in  the  least  degree 
affected  by  the  acid,  whereas  the  ink  in  an  original 
letter  will  be  wholly  or  in  great  part  obliterated. 


CHAPTER  VII 

On    the    Progressive    Increase    in    the    Market 
Value  of  Autographs 

THE  last  hundred  years  have  witnessed  a 
wonderful  change  in  the  market  values  of  all 
sorts  of  things  dear  to  collectors,  and  especi- 
ally in  books  and  autographs.  If  we  examine 
the  catalogues  of  sales  made  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
19th  century,  or  a  few  years  later,  we  shall  see  there 
enumerated  a  multitude  of  items  that  would  now  read- 
ily bring  from  twenty  to  fifty,  or  more,  times  as  much 
as  they  then  did.  The  reason  for  this  advance  in 
values  is  not  difficult  to  understand.  In  those  days 
the  number  of  collectors  was  extremely  small  in  com- 
parison with  the  present  number,  and  they  had  far 
less  wealth  than  their  successors  in  after  years.  The 
multi-millionaire  existed,  but  was  rarely  met  with. 
As,  from  decade  to  decade,  there  were  constant  acces- 


70  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

slons  to  the  ranks  of  the  collectors,  and  as  the  purchas- 
ing power  of  the  pound,  the  franc,  or  the  dollar  de- 
clined, there  was  a  natural  advance  in  values  which, 
when  once  commenced,  has  continued,  sometimes  with 
leaps  and  bounds,  to  the  present  day.  There  are  many 
who  think  it  has  gone  too  far,  and  that  a  reaction  will 
follow.  Whether  this  will  happen  is  purely  problem- 
atical. 

Turning  our  attention  to  the  prices  at  which  auto- 
graphs were  sold  in  the  comparative  infancy  of  the 
hobby,  we  shall  find  some  rather  remarkable  records 
of  sales  in  France  and  England,  between  the  years  1822 
and  1837,  at  figures  which,  to-day,  would  seem  ab- 
surdly small. 

Thus,  in  France,  an  A.  L.  S.  of  Barbaroux  [French 
Revolutionist]  was  quoted  at  5  francs  in  1829;  one  of 
Bichat  [the  great  anatomist]  at  2}-^  francs  in  1831; 
one  of  Charles  VI.  of  France  at  30  francs  in  1837;  one 
of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  at  21J/2  francs  in  1833;  one 
of  Camille  Desmoulins  at  3  francs  in  1837;  one  of  King 
Henry  III.  of  France  at  20  francs  in  183 1 ;  one  of  Marat 
[the  noted  French  Revolutionist]  at  7  francs  10  cen- 
times in  1828;  one  of  Marie  Antoinette  at  81  francs  in 
1833;  one  of  Marshal  Lannes  at  15  francs  in  1831;  one 
of  Philip  II.  of  Spain  at  10  francs  in  1834;  one  of 
Madame  de  Pompadour  at  17  francs  in  1833;  one  of 


INCREJSE  IN  VALUES  71 

Jean  Racine  at  39  francs  in  1826;  one  of  Robespierre  at 
10  francs  in  1837;  one  of  Madame  Roland  at  16  francs 
in  1837;  and  one  of  Voltaire  at  4  francs  in  1822. 

The  "Archivist"  for  December,  1889,  gives  the 
text  of  an  article  on  autographs,  written  in  the  year 
1827  by  a  woman  who  was  well  known  in  her  day  as  an 
author,  and  who  was  also  a  collector,  in  which  she 
quotes,  from  a  catalogue  of  a  collection  for  sale  in 
London,  the  price  affixed  to  each  lot.  Queen  Elizabeth 
[the  character  of  the  specimen  not  being  stated]  is 
worth  £2  2s.  Charles  I.  is  of  equal  value.  Francis  I. 
and  Louis  XIV.  are  estimated  at  about  4s.  each.  Car- 
dinal Mazarin  is  valued  at  3s.  6d.  The  dramatists 
Congreve  and  the  elder  Coleman  combine  with  four 
other  individuals  to  reach  10s.  6d.  Addison  is  worth 
£2.15,  Swift  £3,  and  Burns  £3.7.6.  Gibbon  [the  his- 
torian] is  valued  at  8s.,  Dr.  Johnson  at  £1.16,  Lawrence 
Sterne  at  2  guineas,  Samuel  Richardson  [the  novelist] 
at  20s.,  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  at  8s. 

During  the  two  succeeding  decades  there  was  a 
slow,  but  substantial,  increase  in  prices;  though  they 
continued  to  be  very  moderate  throughout  the  Upcott, 
Tremont,  Donnadieu,  and  Dawson  Turner  sales.  The 
advance  in  values  became  more  pronounced,  though 
far  from  excessive,  at  the  sales  of  the  Young  and  Dillon 
collections  in  1869,  and  it  held  good  during  the  Fillon 


72  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

sale  in  1878  and  the  Bovet  sale  in  1887.  Still  the 
rarer  and  more  valuable  items  were  not  beyond  the 
purchasing  power  of  a  man  of  moderate  means.  It 
was  not  until  fifteen  years  later  that  prices  began  their 
leap  to  figures  that  seemed  almost  impossible;  and  their 
onward  march  appears  to  be  without  check. 

As  illustrations  of  the  difference  between  the  low 
prices  of  1827  to  1859,  and  the  current  values  of  to-day, 
the  following  instances  may  be  cited. 

Ludwig  von  Beethoven  [the  great  composer].  An  A.  L. 
S.  sold  at  12  francs  in  1842.  In  1911,  at  the  Huth 
sale,  an  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to  brought  £40. 

Catharine  of  Arragon,  first  Queen  of  Henry  the  Eighth. 
In  1851,  at  the  Donnadieu  sale,  an  A.  L.  S.  3  pages 
folio,  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  sold  at  £21.  At 
the  Huth  sale  the  same  letter  brought  £800. 

Lord  Byron.  In  1843  an  A.  L.  S.  4to  sold  at  80  francs. 
In  1916  the  catalogue  of  Bernard  Quaritch  prices  a 
similar  specimen  at  £63. 

Andre  Chenier.  In  1827  an  A.  L.  S.  4to  was  priced  at 
20  francs  95  centimes.  In  1887  a  similar  specimen 
brought  810  francs  at  the  Bovet  sale. 

Queen  Elizabeth.  At  the  Donnadieu  sale,  in  1851,  an 
A.  L.  S.  4  pages   folio,   to  James   VI.   of  Scotland, 


INCREASE  IN  FA  LUES  73 

brought  £16.  At  the  Huth  sale,  in  1911,  an  A.  L.  S. 
3  pages  foHo,  to  King  Henry  IV.,  of  France,  sold  for 
£365. 

Galileo  Galilei.  In  1833  an  A.  L.  S.  was  priced  at  51 
francs.  At  the  Huth  sale,  in  1911,  an  A.  L.  S.  13/2 
pages  folio  sold  for  £116. 

Christoph  Gluck  [the  composer].  In  1843  an  A.  L.  S. 
sold  for  74  francs.  In  1905,  at  the  Cohn  sale,  one 
sold  for  4000  marks. 

Charles  Lamb.  At  the  Donnadieu  sale,  in  1851,  an 
interesting  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio  brought  £1.15.  In 
1916  a  similar  specimen  is  priced  by  Quaritch  at  £55. 

Martin  Luther.  In  1869,  at  the  Dillon  sale,  an  A.  L.  S. 
\l^  pages  folio  to  the  Duke  of  Saxony  sold  for  £18. 
At  the  Huth  sale,  in  1911,  the  same  letter  produced 
£495. 

John  Milt07i  [the  great  poet].  The  collection  of  auto- 
graph letters  formed  by  John  Anderdon,  Esq.,  which 
was  sold  by  Mr.  Evans,  in  London,  in  1833,  contained 
a  long  A.  L.  S.  from  Milton  to  his  dear  friend  Carlo 
Dati,  dated  from  London,  1647.  It  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  Pickering,  the  publisher,  for  £14.  To-day 
it  would  readily  bring  from  ten  to  twenty  times  that 
price. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte.  In  1834  an  A.  L.  S.  4to  was  sold 
for  104  francs.  In  1887,  at  the  Bovet  sale,  a  similar 
specimen  realized  1000  francs. 


74  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Rembrandt  [the  great  painter].  At  the  Donnadieu 
sale,  in  1851,  an  A.  L.  S.  4to  sold  for  £10.  At  the 
Cohn  sale,  in  1905,  an  A.  L.  S.  folio  went  for  7000 
marks. 

Cardinal  Richelieu.  In  1841  an  A.  L.  S.  was  quoted  at 
18  francs.  At  the  Fillon  sale  in  1878,  the  price  was 
1000  francs. 

Peter  Paul  Rubens  [the  painter].  In  1842  an  A.  L.  S. 
folio  was  priced  at  60  francs.  At  the  Cohn  sale, 
in  1905,  one  sold  for  1500  marks. 

Percy  B.  Shelley.  At  the  Young  sale,  in  1869,  an  A.  L. 
S.  4to  sold  at  £7.10.  In  the  Quaritch  catalogue  for 
1916  a  similar  specimen  is  priced  at  £90. 

In  the  United  States,  the  advance  in  values  has 
been  confined  chiefly  to  names  that  appear  in  the 
series  of  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Presidents,  and 
to  a  comparatively  few  literary  and  miscellaneous 
names.  In  some  instances  it  has  been  moderate;  in 
others,  very  great.  A  signature  of  Thomas  Lynch, 
Jr.,  one  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration,  cut  from 
the  title  page  of  a  book  belonging  to  him,  was  worth 
^10  in  1860.  By  1886  it  had  advanced  to  3210  at  the 
Cist  sale;  and  later  on  it  commanded  a  still  higher 
figure.     At  the  same  sale  a  folio  document  signed  by 


INCREASE  IN  VALUES  75 

Button  Gwinnett  sold  for  ^185;  while  a  similar  speci- 
men brought  the  enormous  price  of  ^4600  at  the 
Danforth  sale  in  1912. 

Among  literary  names  the  most  pronounced  ad- 
vance has  been  in  letters  of  Edgar  A.  Poe.  In  1860 
good  letters  of  this  poet  could  readily  be  had  for  $S : 
to-day  they  are  worth  from  350  to  3100.  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne,  Washington  Irving,  James  Russell  Lowell, 
Longfellow,  Bret  Harte,  Samuel  L.  Clemens,  and  a 
few  other  leading  poets  and  prose-writers,  are  now  in 
constant  demand  at  prices  from  five  to  ten  times 
greater  than  those  at  which  they  were  then  abundant. 

Of  miscellaneous  names,  those  of  General  Washing- 
ton, his  mother  [Mary]  and  wife  [Martha],  Capt. 
Nathan  Hale  [the  martyr  spy].  Major  John  Andre, 
John  Paul  Jones  [the  naval  hero],  William  Penn,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  are  a  few  that  may  be  particu- 
larly mentioned.  In  the  middle  of  the  19th  century 
full  autograph  letters  of  Gen.  Washington,  with  in- 
teresting contents,  were  not  valued  at  more  than 
315  to  320;  and  military  letters  signed  [but  not  written] 
by  him  were  sold  at  33  to  35.  There  was  a  plentiful 
supply  of  both  kinds.  Letters  of  his  mother  were, 
and  are,  of  extreme  rarity:  yet  one  was  bought,  in  1858, 
for  350,  which  would  now  be  worth  31000.  Letters 
of   Martha    Washington    appeared   only   occasionally, 


76  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

but  were  not  estimated  at  more  than  $2S — a  fifth 
or  tenth  of  their  present  value.  No  letter  of  Nathan 
Hale  was  heard  of,  either  at  public  or  private  sale, 
until  1892;  when  an  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to  [not  military] 
realized  ^1125  at  an  auction  sale  in  Philadelphia. 
For  a  letter  of  Major  Andre,  which  today  would  be 
worth  31000,  3100  was  considered  a  full  price.  A 
good  letter  of  John  Paul  Jones  could  be  had  for  310 — 
a  small  fraction  of  its  present  value.  Letters  of 
William  Penn  will  readily  bring  ten  times  as  much  as 
they  did  then;  and  those  of  Abraham  Lincoln  have 
had  an  enormous  advance. 

In  the  series  of  Generals  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  much  attention  has,  of  late  years,  been  paid  to 
the  character  of  the  contents  of  the  letters.  Such  as 
embodied  valuable  historical  material,  even  though 
written  by  men  whose  autographs  were  of  common 
occurrence,  have  been  selling  at  prices  largely  in  ex- 
cess of  those  that  prevailed  thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 
Of  the  more  noted  names  that  now  command  a  very 
decided  increase  in  price,  Israel  Putnam,  Richard 
Montgomery,  Benedict  Arnold,  Anthony  Wayne,  Count 
Pulaski,  Baron  de  Kalb,  Hugh  Mercer  and  Charles 
Lee  may  be  specified.  Letters  of  Philippe  Du  Cou- 
dray  and  the  Chevalier  de  la  Neuville  have  never 
appeared  in  sale  catalogues,  and  are  so  rare  that,  so 


INCREASE  IN  VALUES 


77 


far  as  is  known,  they  are  not  to  be  found  except  in 
one  private  collection.  Baron  de  Woedtke  has  ap- 
peared once,  or  perhaps  twice,  as  L.  S. 

As  the  prices  obtained  for  autographs  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  at  the 
Cist  sale,  in  1886,  fairly  represent  their  current  values 
up  to  that  time,  a  comparison  of  them  with  the  prices 
realized  at  the  Danforth  sale,  in  1912,  will  indicate 
the  extent  of  the  increase  in  value.  To  that  end 
the  following  tabulated  statement  is  given;  omitting 
a  few  names  poorly  represented  in  the  Cist  series: 


Name. 

Price 

John  Adams 

...A.  L. 

Samuel  Adams.  .  .  . 

...A.L. 

Carter  Braxton .... 

...A.L. 

Charles  Carroll. .  .  . 

...A.L. 

Samuel  Chase 

...A.L. 

Abraham  Clark. . . . 

...A.L. 

George  Clymer .... 

...A.L. 

William  Ellery .  .  .  . 

...A.L. 

William  Floyd 

...A.L. 

Benjamin  Franklin. 

...A.L. 

Elliridge  Gerry.  .  .  . 

...A.L. 

Button  Gwinnett.  . 

.  ..D.S. 

Lvman  Hall 

...A.D. 

John  Hancock 

...A.L. 

Benj.  Harrison.  .  .  . 

...A.L. 

Joseph  Hewes 

...A.L. 

Thomas  Hey  ward. . 

...D.S. 

William  Hooper.  .  . 

...A.L. 

Francis  Hopkinson. 

.  ...^.L. 

Samuel  Huntington 

...A.L. 

Thomas  Jefferson. . 

...A.L. 

Francis  Lightfoot  L( 

:e  .A.L. 

at  the  Cist  Sale.  Pr 

S.  4to,  1780.    $11  A. 

.S.4to,  1779.     $35  A. 

,S.  3  pp.,  1777.     $5  A. 

,S.4to,  1810,     $2.75         A. 

.S.4to,  1788.     $6  A. 

,S.2pp.  folio,  1776.  $20  A. 

.S.5pp.4to,  1785.    m   A. 

.S.4to,  1771.    $4  A. 

.S.4to,  1821.    $7  A. 

,S.2pp.4to,  1750.  $12     A. 

.S.2pp.4to,  1782.  $7  A. 
folio,  1774.     $185  D. 

,S.2pp.  folio,  1787.  $36  A. 

.S.4to,  1778.     $15  L. 

.S.4to,  1788.     $9  A. 

.S.2pp.4to,1777.   $28    A. 

.4to,  1786.     $10  A. 

,S.3pp.4to,  1781.     $20  A. 

.S.4to,  1786.     $8  A. 

.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  1794.     $5     A. 

,S.4to,  1826.     $4.75         A. 

,S.3pp.4to,  1777.    $12  A. 


ice  at  the  Danforth  Sale. 
L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  1779.   $36 
L.S.4to,  1772.     $31 
L.S.  3  pp.  folio,  1778.   $36 
L.S.4to,  1790.     $14 
L.S.2pp.  folio,  1779.  $92 J 
L.S.4to,  1776.     $305 
L.S.  folio,  1778.     $50 
L.S.2pp.4to,  1782.  $85 
L.S.4to,  1783.     $80 
L.S.4to,  1776.     $375 
L.S.2pp.  folio,  1776.  $205 
S.  2  pp.  folio,  1770.  $4600 
L.S.  large  folio,  1783.  $225 
S.  2  pp.  folio,  1776.  $175 
L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1782.  $46 
L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  1775.  $800 
L.S.4to,  1801.     $195 
L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1782.  $450 
L.  S. 4to,  1778.     $80 
L.S.2pp.4to,  1783.     $35 
L.S.4to,  1779.     $50 
L.S.2pp.4to,  1776.     $160 


78 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Richard  Henry  Lee 
Francis  Lewis .... 
Philip  Livingston . 
Thomas  Lynch,  Jr 
Arthur  Middleton . 

Lewis  Morris 

Robert  Morris 

Thomas  Nelson,  Jr 

William  Paca 

Robt.  Treat  Paine 

John  Penn 

Caesar  Rodney .  .  . 

George  Ross 

Benjamin  Rush. . . 
Edward  Rutledge. 
Roger  Sherman . . . 
Richard  Stockton. 
Thomas  Stone. . .  . 
Matthew  Thornton 
William  Whipple.  . 
WiUiam  Williams. 
James  Wilson.  .  .  . 
John  Witherspoon 
Oliver  Wolcott.  .  . 
George  Wythe 


.A.L.S.4to,  1781.     $3.50 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1778.  $16 
.L.S.4to,  1773.    $3.25 
.Cut  signature.     $210 
.D.  S.  |page4to,  1782.  $15 
.A.  L.S.  folio,  1776.    $85 
.A.L.S.4to,  1799.    $1.50 
.A.L.S.4to,1783.    $6.50 
.A.L.S.4to,  1779.    $17 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,1778.  $22 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1776.  $40 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1775.$8.50 
.A.  L.S.  folio,  1773.     $9 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1811.     $2 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1798.    $10 
.A.L.S.4pp.4to,  1781.  $25 
.A.L.S.4to,1779.    $50 
.A.L.S.2pp.4to,1786.  $25 
.A.  D.S.4to,  1764.    $3 
.A.L.S.4pp.4to,1778.    $9 
.A.L.S.4pp.4to,  1777.    $6 
.A.L.S.4to,  1793.    $4^ 
.A.L.S.4to,  1791.     $4f 
.A.L.S.4to,  1783.    $15 
.A.  D.S.  folio,  1789.    $26 


A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1776.     $175 
A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1777.     $125 
A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1778.     $280 
Signature  on  a  title  page.  $580 
A.L.S.4to,  1781.    $470 
A.  L.  S.  folio,  1788.    $100 
A.L.S.3pp.  folio,  1776.     $60 
A.  L.S.  folio,  1776.     $160 
A.  L.S.  folio,  1786.    $45 
A.L.S.4pp.4to,1784.     $250 
A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  1776.     $710 
A.  L.S.  folio,  1776.    $150 
A.L.S.2pp.4to,  1775.     $120 
A.L.S.3pp.4to,  1783.     $95 
A.L.S.2pp.  folio,  1776.  $250 
A.  L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1784.  $200 
A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  1763.     $235 
A.L.S.4to,1778.    $250 
A.  L.  S.  folio,  1775.    $310 
A.  L.S.  2  pp.  4to,  1776.     $250 
A.  L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1776.  $165 
A.  L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1780.  $110 
A.  L.  S.  folio,  1776.    $125 
A.  L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1776.  $240 
A.  L.S.  2  pp.  folio,  1776.  $680 


It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  extremely 
high  prices  obtained  at  the  Danforth  sale  were  chiefly 
due  to  competition  among  a  few  men  of  great  wealth 
who  had  recently  entered  the  held,  and  to  the  desire 
to  obtain  letters  written  in  the  year  1776;  a  desire 
which  had  not  manifested  itself  in  earlier  days. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Concerning  Those  Who  Have  Conducted  the  Com- 
merce IN  Autographs 

IN  any  mention  of  the  men  who  have  become  well 
known  and  successful  as  dealers  in  autographs, 
the  Charavay  family,  of  Paris,  is  entitled  to  first 
place.  Three  generations  of  the  family  have, 
since  the  year  1843,  not  only  been  one  of  the  chief  me- 
diums through  which  collectors  in  Europe  and  America 
have  been  supplied,  but  the  successive  heads  of  the 
business  have  always  been  considered  as  most  com- 
petent and  trustworthy  experts,  especially  in  regard 
to  the  authenticity  of  French  and  Italian  autographs, 
and  as  thoroughly  honest  and  reliable  business  men. 
Jacques  Charavay  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  com- 
mence the  occupation  of  a  dealer  in  autographs. 
Coming  to  Paris  in  1843,  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
subject  obtained  from  close  study,  and  with  an  eye 


80  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

that  quickly  detected  want  of  genuineness,  he  issued, 
in  November,  1845,  his  first  bulletin  of  autographs 
for  sale  at  the  prices  marked.  Up  to  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1867,  he  continued  to  issue  these  monthly 
bulletins  and  to  prepare  the  sale  catalogues  of  im- 
portant collections  to  be  disposed  of  at  auction. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Etienne,  who  gained 
even  a  greater  reputation  than  that  which  attached 
to  his  father.  His  knowledge  of  autographs,  their 
rarity,  value,  and  authenticity,  was  conceded  to  be 
unrivaled.  His  judgment  of  the  genuineness  of  a 
paper  was  accepted  without  question.  After  his 
death,  the  business  passed  into  the  hands  of  M.  Noel 
Charavay,  who  still  conducts  it  with  the  intelligence, 
energy,  and  success  that  characterized  his  predeces- 
sors. He,  too,  is  acknowledged  to  be  an  expert  of 
high  rank. 

Other  members  of  the  family  who  followed  this 
same  pursuit  were  Gabriel  Charavay  [1818-1879], 
his  son  Eugene,  and  his  widow,  both  of  whom  are 
now  deceased.  They  issued  their  priced  catalogues 
with  great  regularity,  and  had  a  large  clientele. 

In  England,  the  bookseller  Waller  was  one  of 
the  first  well-known  dealers  in  London.  He  and  his 
son  John,  who  succeeded  him,  issued  catalogues  for 
nearly  fifty  years,  and  up  to  the  death  of  the  son  in 


AUTOGRAPH  DEALERS  81 

the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They  were 
greatly  respected  for  intelligent  and  fair  dealing,  and 
they  always  endeavoured  to  keep  their  prices  at 
moderate  figures,  so  as  to  encourage  young  collectors. 
Frederick  Barker  and  Frederick  Naylor  were  two 
of  the  best  known  dealers  in  London  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  They  were  extensive  pur- 
chasers at  the  various  auction  sales,  and  large  quan- 
tities of  good  material  came  into  their  hands  by  private 
purchase.  It  was  Mr.  Barker's  good  fortune  to  ac- 
quire, in  this  way,  the  business  correspondence  of 
William  Strahan,  the  leading  English  publisher  of  the 
18th  century,  containing  hundreds  of  letters  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  Sir  William  Blackstone,  Tobias  Smol- 
lett, and  many  other  leading  characters  and  literary 
lights  of  that  day.  He  had  a  large  circle  of  customers 
in  the  United  States  as  well  as  Great  Britain,  to  whom 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  sending  parcels  of  autographs 
for  examination  and  selection.  His  prices  were  mod- 
erate, he  was  extremely  fair  and  very  obliging,  and 
his  death  was  greatly  regretted  by  all  with  whom  he 
had  dealings.  Both  he  and  Mr.  Naylor  issued,  for 
many  years  and  up  to  the  time  of  their  death,  regular 
monthly  catalogues  in  which  rare  and  choice  letters 
frequently  appeared. 
/ 


82  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

After  their  deaths,  Walter  V.  Daniell,  Bernard 
Quaritch,  and  J.  Pearson  &  Co.  became  the  principal 
London  dealers;  the  latter  firm,  through  the  attention 
given  by  Mr.  F.  Wheeler,  acquiring  the  leading  place 
and  issuing  occasional  catalogues  of  letters  of  the  first 
importance.  At  a  somewhat  later  date  Maggs  Bros, 
entered  the  field  and  have  been  very  active  in  it. 

In  Germany  the  principal  dealers  have  been  Otto 
August  Schulz  and  his  son,  Richard  Zeune,  Albert 
Cohn,  Emil  Hirsch,  and  Leo  Liepmannssohn;  the  latter 
of  whom,  after  many  years  of  deserved  success,  has 
laid  aside  the  cares  of  active  business.  Those  who  are 
best  known  to-day  are  C.  G.  Boerner,  in  Leipzig,  and 
J.  A.  Stargardt,  Karl  Ernst  Henrici,  and  Otto  Haas 
[successor  to  Leo  Liepmannssohn]  in  Berlin. 

In  the  United  States,  Charles  De  F.  Burns  was 
the  first  to  establish  himself  in  this  business.  He  be- 
gan in  a  small  way,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the 
year  1864,  and  was  so  prosperous  that,  in  August, 
1870,  he  commenced  the  issue  of  a  periodical,  called 
"The  American  Antiquarian,"  part  of  which  was  de- 
voted to  a  catalogue  of  the  autographs  for  sale  by  him. 
For  many  years  there  was  no  other  dealer  in  this 
country.  He  had  a  large  knowledge  of  autographs, 
was  an  excellent  judge  of  the  genuineness  of  a  paper, 
and  was  very  straightforward  in  his  dealings  with  his 


AUTOGRAPH  DEALERS  83 

customers.  He  would  never  accept  a  commission  in 
excess  of  five  per  cent  for  making  purchases  at  auction 
sales;  and  he  would  complain,  in  the  most  outspoken 
way,  if  compelled  to  pay,  for  a  client,  an  unduly  high 
price.  He  died,  much  regretted,  a  few  years  ago, 
after  spending  nearly  fifty  years  in  a  pursuit  which 
was  most  congenial  to  him. 

William  Evarts  Benjamin  and  his  brother,  Walter 
R.,  first  became  known  to  collectors  in  the  year  1886. 
Shortly  thereafter  William  retired  from  the  business 
which  Walter  has  since  conducted  with  so  large  a 
measure  of  success.  He  has  an  immense  stock  of 
autographs,  and  publishes  a  monthly  paper  called 
"The  Collector,"  in  which,  like  Mr.  Wegg,  he  frequent- 
ly "drops  into  poetry";  for  he  inherits  the  poetic  in- 
stinct from  his  father,  the  well-known  Park  Benjamin 
of  the  "Knickerbocker"  days.  He  resides  in  New 
York  City;  where  P.  F.  Madigan  and  his  son  Thomas 
have  lately  established  themselves  as  dealers,  partic- 
ularly in  fine  literary  autographs,  and  where  Joseph 
Sabin  occasionally  offers  some  choice  letters  to  his 
large  clientele  for  engravings.  From  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
John  Heise  sends  out  priced  lists  from  which  his  nu- 
merous customers  are  supplied.  In  Boston,  Charles  E. 
Goodspeed  is  the  leading,  if  not  the  only,  dealer. 


84  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

In  Philadelphia  few  people  are  engaged  in  this 
line  of  business.  The  best  known  are  Dr.  A.  S.  W. 
Rosenbach — who,  in  addition  to  a  magnificent  array 
of  books,  carries  a  small  stock  of  letters  and  documents 
of  the  finest  quality — and  Dr.  William  J.  Campbell, 
bookseller  and  publisher. 


CHAPTER    IX 

Concerning    Some   Noted    European    Collections 
OF  THE  Olden  and  of  Recent  Times 

THE  earliest  noted  collections  of  autographs 
which  have  passed  into  national  archives  in 
France  and  England  and  have  there  been 
preserved  intact,  were  formed,  not  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  specimens  of  the  handwriting  of 
eminent  men  and  women,  but  to  ensure  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  papers  for  historical  purposes.  The}^  were, 
in  most  part,  obtained  by  gift  of  the  ancient  families 
in  which  they  had  long  been  accumulating. 

Some  such  collections  are  specially  mentioned  by 
M.  Etienne  Charavay  in  "La  Science  des  Autographes." 
One  of  them  was  the  immense  collection  formed  in 
France,  in  the  early  part  of  the  17th  century,  by  Philippe 
de  Bethune,  brother  of  the  great  Sully,  and  his  son 
Hippolyte,  with  the  aid  of  their  family  archives  and 


86  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

those  of  the  houses  of  Nevers  and  of  Montmorency. 
It  contained  thousands  of  original  letters  of  illustri- 
ous personages,  classified  by  reigns,  and  is  now  part 
of  the  precious  possessions  of  the  Bibliotheque  Na- 
tionale. 

After  them,  Antoine  Lom^nie  de  Brienne,  Fabri  de 
Peiresc,  Etienne  Baluze,  Andre  Du  Chesne,  and  some 
other  literary  men,  joined  the  collection  of  autographs 
with  that  of  books  and  other  curiosities.  But  the 
man  who,  more  than  any  other,  devoted  his  time 
and  fortune  to  the  search  for  autographs  was  Roger 
de  Gaignieres.  This  gentleman,  born  in  1644,  with 
the  aid  of  his  valet  [who  became  his  librarian],  saved 
great  numbers  of  valuable  historical  papers  from  de- 
struction. In  1711  he  presented  them  to  Louis  XIV., 
and  they  now  form  a  most  important  part  of  the 
treasures  of  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale. 

In  the  same  category  with  the  foregoing  must  be 
named  several  great  collections  formed  in  England, 
in  the  17th  century  and  the  early  part  of  the  18th,  by 
Sir  Robert  Cotton,  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford, 
and  Sir  Hans  Sloane — all  of  which  are  numbered  among 
the  glories  of  the  British  Museum. 

The  18th  century  witnessed  a  slow,  but  steady, 
development  of  the  taste  for  autographs;  and  the  19th 
century  produced  hundreds  of  votaries  of  the  hobby, 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  87 


diligently  seeking  to  obtain  letters  or  documents  of 
eminent  persons,  not  only  for  such  historic  or  personal 
interest  as  might  attach  to  them  but  also  as  specimens 
of  handwriting. 

M.  Charavay  gives,  as  the  names  of  the  notable 
French  collectors  in  the  early  part  of  the  19th  century, 
those  of  Guilbert  de  Pixerecourt,  the  Marquis  de 
Chalabre,  the  Marquise  de  Dolomieu,  the  Comtesse 
de  Castellane,  Monmerque,  the  Baron  Feuillet  de 
Conches,  the  Comte  d'Hauterive,  the  Baron  de  Tre- 
mont,  Alexandre  Martin,  Lucas  de  Montigny,  Tarbe, 
Chambry,  Michel  Chasles  [the  mathematician],  Victor 
Cousin,  Guizot,  Sainte-Beuve,  Dubrunfaut  [the  chem- 
ist], Benjamin  Fillon,  and  Alfred  Sensier.  To  these 
must  be  added,  somewhat  later  in  that  century,  the 
names  of  Mons.  La  Caille — who  had  one  of  the  finest 
collections  in  Europe — ^\^ictorien  Sardou,  Alexandre 
Dumas,  Alfred  Bovet,  and  very  many  others. 

In  relation  to  English  collectors,  John  Gough 
Nichols,  in  his  preface  to  "Autographs  of  Royal, 
Noble,  Learned,  and  Remarkable  Personages  Con- 
spicuous in  English  History,"  says:  "The  preface  to 
Thane's  'Autography'  tells  us  that  the  fac-similes  given 
in  the  work  are  from  the  originals  which  were  formerly 
in  the  collections  of  those  well-known  antiquaries, 
Ralph  Thoresby,   Esq.,  Peter   le  Neve,    Esq.    [whose 


88  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

collection  now  forms  the  Harleian  volumes  4712  and 
4713],  James  West,  Esq.,  Rev.  Mr.  Ives,  Mr.  Bar- 
telet,  Gustavus  Brande,  Esq.,  and  others.  The  first 
of  these  collections  will  be  found  fully  described  in  a 
distinct  chapter  of  the  'Museum  Thoresbyanum.' 
After  mentioning  that  he  had  a  copy  of  Camden's 
Britannia  in  quarto,  Svhich  I  bought  for  the  sake  of 
the  learned  author's  autograph,'  Mr.  Thoresby  con- 
tinues: 'This  reminds  me  of  another  branch  of  the 
curiosities  that  I  began  to  collect  of  late  years,  viz: 
Original  letters  and  other  matters  of  the  proper  Hand- 
writing of  persons  of  all  ranks,  eminent  in  their  genera- 
tions'; of  which  he  proceeds  to  give  a  catalogue,  the 
names  only  of  the  writers  occupying  more  than  three 
large  folio  pages.  In  more  recent  days,  collections  of 
autographs  have  been  formed  by  Sir  William  Musgrave 
[who  bequeathed  them  to  the  British  Museum],  and 
the  late  James  Bindley,  the  sale  of  whose  library,  in 
1820,  was  concluded  with  108  lots  of  autographs." 

Among  the  names  of  Englishmen  who  were  best 
known,  in  the  19th  century,  as  the  possessors  of  exten- 
sive collections,  are  those  of  John  L.  Anderdon,  Esq., 
Dawson  Turner,  J.  B.  Williams,  of  Shrewsbury,  Rev. 
Robert  Bolton,  Robert  Cole,  Baron  Heath,  A.  Don- 
nadieu.  Sir  Thomas  Phillips,  John  Dillon,  John  Young, 
Rev.  Dr.  Raffles,  William  Upcott,  and  Alfred  Morrison. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  89 

Charavay  gives  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  best 
known  collectors  in  other  European  countries;  but,  as 
might  be  expected,  the  list  represents  a  mere  fraction 
of  the  actual  number. 

While  it  would  be  manifestly  impossible,  for  want 
of  space,  to  take  any  further  notice  of  most  of  these 
collections,  curiosity  to  know  something  about  the 
character  of  the  material  that,  at  different  periods, 
composed  them,  may  be  gratified  by  the  detailed 
statements  that  follow. 


The  Monmerque  Collection 

One  of  the  earliest  French  collections  disposed  of 
at  auction,  was  that  of  M.  Monmerque.  The  sale 
took  place  in  May,  1837.  The  catalogue  is  an  8vo 
pamphlet  of  108  pages,  enumerating  1352  items,  ar- 
ranged alphabetically,  but  giving  a  very  scant  descrip- 
tion of  the  autographs.  The  following  names  will 
serve  to  indicate  the  general  character  of  the  collection 
and  the  auction  prices  of  that  day. 

Balzac,  Jean  Louis  Guez  de  [Author].     A.  L.  S.,  1639. 
283^  francs. 

Garrick,  David  [Actor].     A.  L.  S.,  1767.     313/^  francs. 

Henri  IF.  [King  of  France].     A.  L.  S.,  1594.     60  francs. 


90  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

La   Fontaine,   Jean   de.    [Fabulist].     A.    L.    S.,    1658. 

320  francs. 
Le  Couvreur,  Adrienne  [Actress].     A.  L.  S.,  1729.     62 

francs. 
Louis  XL  [King  of  France].     L.  S.     16  francs. 
Mabillon,  dom  Jean   [Pulpit  orator].     A.  L.  S.,   1697. 

5  francs. 
Marat,  Jean  Paul.     A.  L.  S.  8vo.     29J^  francs. 
Marie  Antoinette.     A.  D.  S.  of  4  lines  on  the  back  of  a 

letter.     1781.     23  francs. 
Mazarin,  Jules,  Cardinal.     A.  L.  S.,  1658.     23  francs. 
Medicis,  Marie  de  [Queen  of  France].     A.  L.  S.,  1614. 

19  francs. 
Mignard,  Pierre  [Painter].     A.  L.  S.     26  francs. 
Pare,  Ambroise  [Surgeon].      D.  S.,  1672.     4}/^  francs. 
Perrault,  Charles  [Author].     A.  L.  S.     18  francs. 
Piron,  Alexis  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.,  1755.     20  francs. 
Pompadour,  Madame  de  [Mistress  of  Louis  XV.].     A. 

L.  S.,  1747.     10  francs. 
Prevost  d' Exiles,  VAbhe  [Author].    A.  L.  S.,  1735.    223^ 

francs. 
Rochefoucauld,  Frangois,  Due  de  la.     [Author  of  "Max- 
ims."]    A.  L.  S.,  1658.     47  francs. 
Rohan,  Henri,  Due  de  [Chief  of  the  Calvinists].     A.  L. 

S.,  1617.     2  francs. 


VVIJ.LIAM   UPCO'l  r 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  91 

Roland,  Madame  [French    Revolution].     A.  L.  S.     16 

francs. 
Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques.     A.  L.  S.  and  A.  D.  S.,  1774. 

41  francs. 
Saint   Pierre,    Bernardin   de   [Author].      A.    L.    S.      11 

francs. 
Sales,  Saint  Frangois  de.     A.  L.  S.     65  francs. 
Tasso,  Torquato.     A.  L.  S.,  1586.     400  francs. 
Washington,  George.     A.  L.  S.,  1797.     40  francs. 

The  Upcott  Collection 

In  1836  Mr.  William  Upcott,  the  assistant-libra- 
rian of  the  London  Institution  from  1806  to  1834, 
printed,  for  private  distribution,  a  catalogue  of  the 
"Original  letters,  manuscript,  and  State  papers"  in  his 
collection.  In  a  brief  preface,  he  states  that  the  col- 
lection— the  labor  of  more  than  twenty-five  years — • 
comprises  thirty-two  thousand  letters,  exclusive  of 
manuscripts.  "Favourable  and  extraordinary  oppor- 
tunities have  encouraged  my  pursuit.  The  papers  and 
correspondence  of  Henry  Hyde,  second  Earl  of  Claren- 
don, J.  and  S.  Dayrolles,  Ralph  Thoresby  of  Leeds, 
Emanuel  da  Costa,  and  others,  were  in  my  possession. 
.  .  .  Added  to  these,  many  of  the  most  eminent  pub- 
lishers kindly  permitted  me  to  select  from  their  preserved 


92  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

correspondence  letters  written  by  eminent  scholars.  .  .  . 
I  am,  in  consequence,  induced  to  believe,  from  the 
opinions  expressed  by  many  men  of  acknowledged 
taste,  that  there  does  not  exist  a  private  collection  so 
rich  in  literary  and  historical  matter."  He  goes  on  to 
say  that  he  has  transcribed  into  this  catalogue  only  some 
of  the  leading  names,  and  expresses  the  desire  to  see 
the  collection  preserved  in  one  of  the  public  museums 
either  abroad  or  at  home. 

Ten  years  later — in  1846 — the  collection  was  sold 
at  auction,  in  London,  "under  the  direction  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery,"  by  Messrs.  Evans.  The  cata- 
logue comprised  585  lots,  many  of  which  contained 
several  hundred  different  items;  and  the  sale  produced 
the  sum  of  £4125.17.6.  As  might  be  reasonably  sup- 
posed, the  larger  part  of  the  names  were  those  of  per- 
sons of  comparatively  little  note.  There  were,  how- 
ever, a  great  number  of  lots  made  up  of  names  of  first 
importance.  A  few  of  these  may  be  specified  with  some 
detail. 

1.  Letters  and  documents  of  British  kings  and 
queens.     Bound  in  one  volume. 

2.  Autographs  of  the  kings  of  France,  from  the 
time  of  Philip  V.  [1319]  to  Napoleon.  Bound  in  two 
folio  volumes.     Sold  at  £7.10.0. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONb;  93 

3.  Original  letters  and  documents  signed  by  the 
principal  persons  who  figured  in  the  French  Revolution. 
In  two  portfolios. 

4.  535  letters  and  documents  of  British  Naval 
officers  from  1652  to  1826;  including  Blake,  Monk, 
Prince  Rupert,  Anson,  Nelson,  and  many  other  celeb- 
rities.    Sold  at  £10. 

5.  383  letters  of  literary  characters  of  the  16th, 
17th,  and  part  of  the  18th  centuries;  the  greater  por- 
tion of  which  arc  addressed  to  John  Evelyn.  Includ- 
ing Jos.  Addison,  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  Robert  Boyle, 
William  Congreve,  John  Evelyn,  Andrew  Marvel,  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  Samuel  Pepys,  Alex.  Pope,  Sir  Richard 
Steele,  Dean  Swift,  and  Edmund  Waller.  Sold  at 
£80. 

6.  752  letters  of  literary  characters  of  the  18th 
and  19th  centuries.  Including  James  Boswell,  Dr. 
Sam.  Johnson,  R.  Porson,  and  Adam  Smith.  Sold  at 
£33. 

7.  1279  letters  of  literary  men  of  the  18th  and 
19th  centuries.  Including  Sir  William  Blackstone, 
Lord  Byron,  Benj.  Franklin,  Edward  Gibbon,  Thomas 
Paine,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Percy  B.  Shelley,  R.  B.  Sheri- 
dan, and  Henry  Kirke  White.     Sold  at  £42. 


94  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

8.  121  letters  of  dramatists.  Including  W.  Con- 
greve,  David  Garrick,  Aaron  Hill,  David  Mallet,  Thos. 
Shadwell,  R.  B.  Sheridan,  Thos.  Southerne,  and  Sir 
John  Vanbrugh. 

9.  470  letters  of  deceased  British  poets,  from  the 
16th  century  to  1836.  Including  Sir  Philip  Sydney, 
A.  Cowley,  Sir  William  Davenant,  Edmund  Waller, 
Thos.  Parnell,  S.  Garth,  Matthew  Prior,  T.  D'Urfey,  E. 
Settle,  Sir  R.  Blackmore,  William  Congreve,  John  Gay, 
Thos.  Tickell,  Alex.  Pope,  Richard  Savage,  Jonathan 
Swift,  James  Thomson,  Wm.  Shenstone,  Wm.  Falconer, 
Oliver  Goldsmith,  Robert  Burns,  Henry  Kirke  White, 
Percy  B.  Shelley,  Lord  Byron,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Sam. 
Taylor  Coleridge,  and  Charles  Lamb. 

10.  414  letters  of  actors  and  actresses.  Includ- 
ing Frances  Abington,  George  Anne  Bellamy,  Barton 
Booth,  Anne  Bracegirdle,  Colley  Cibber,  J.  Emery, 
David  Garrick,  Jo.  Grimaldi,  Thos.  Hull,  Dorothea 
Jordan,  Edmund  Kean,  John  P.  Kemble,  Thos.  King, 
Charles  Macklin,  John  Palmer,  W.  Parsons,  John 
Quick,  Mrs.  Siddons,  Tate  Wilkinson,  and  Henry 
Woodward. 

Among  the  letters  catalogued  separately,  mention 
should  be  made  of  John  Selden,  George  Fox  (the 
Quaker),  Robert  Boyle,  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  Wm. 
Blake   (painter),  T.   Gainsborough   (painter),  William 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  95 

Hogarth,  J.  Hoppiier  (painter),  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller, 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  George  Romney,  Lawrence  Sterne, 
Samuel  Richardson,  Edmund  Burke,  Matthew  Prior, 
Wm.  Wordsworth,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  Spranger 
Barry  (actor),  Samuel  Foote  (actor),  George  Wash- 
ington, and  Martha  Washington. 

The  Donnadieu  Collection. 

The  noted  collection  of  autographs  belonging  to 
Mons.  A.  Donnadieu  was  sold  at  auction,  by  Messrs. 
Puttick  and  Simpson,  in  1851.  The  catalogue  was 
printed  in  ordinary  8vo  form.  For  private  distri- 
bution, however,  there  were  a  few  large  paper  copies, 
which  contained  a  number  of  lithographic  reproduc- 
tions of  important  letters.  The  English  Royal  letters 
in  the  collection  were  those  purchased  at  the  Upcott 
sale.  The  total  number  of  items  named  in  the  cata- 
logue was  only  1038;  but  many  of  these  were  of  first 
importance  in  respect  to  their  rarity,  their  contents, 
their  fine  condition,  and  the  persons  to  whom  they  were 
addressed. 

The  following  named  are  of  this  class.  [The 
prices  at  which  they  sold  are  affixed;  and  the  remarks 
on  the  various  items  are  those  of  the  compiler  of  the 
catalogue.] 


96  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Alhret,  Jeanne  d\  Queen  of  Navarre.  Mother  of 
Henri  IV.  A.  L.  S.  4to,  2  pp.,  to  Charles  IX.  April 
17,  1572.     Very  interesting.     £6.0.0. 

Alexander  VI. ^  Roderic  Borgia.  Pope.  A.  L.  S.  [in 
Latin]  as  Cardinal  Vice-Chancellor,  to  Lorenzo  de 
Medici.     Roma,  Sept.  8,  1477.     £1.12.0. 

Anne  of  Austria.  Queen  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  4to,  to 
the  Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar.     Oct.  6,   1638.     £1.4.0. 

Aretino,  Pietro.  Italian  poet.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio. 
Nov.  12,  1539.     £4.0.0. 

Aske,  Robert.  Leader  of  the  great  rebellion  in  the  North 
occasioned  by  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries 
in  1536.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to.  Presumed  to  be  unique. 
£3.19.0. 

Bacon,  Francis — Viscount  St.  Albans.  Lord  Chancel- 
lor. A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  closely  written,  addressed  to 
Sir  Tho.  Hobby.  Aug.  4,  1606.  Fine  and  very 
rare.     £15.0.0. 

The  Same.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  as  Chancellor,  "Fr.  Veru- 
1am,  Ca.,"  Feb.  13,  1619.  [From  the  Upcott  collec- 
tion.]    £2.4.0. 

Bellievre,  Pomponne  de.  Chancellor  of  France.  A, 
L.  S.  3  pp.  folio.  Londres,  Dec.  13,  1586.  To  M. 
de  Villeroy.  Very  rare  and  of  great  historical  in- 
terest.    £8.0.0. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  97 

Berulle,  Pierre,  Cardinal.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  AI.  de 
Bouthiller.     Paris,    July    20,    1628.     Rare.     £2.2.0. 

Beza,  Theodore.  Reformer.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio.  Ge- 
neve, Feb.  2,  1573.     Very  interesting.     £3.10.0. 

Biron,  Charles  de  Gontaut,  Due  de.  Marshal  of  France. 
A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  to  M.  de  Villeroy.  Dijon, 
Feb.  20,  1602.     Very  fine  and  rare.     £1.16.0. 

Boileau-Despreaux.  Great  French  poet.  A.  L.  S.  2 
pp.  4to.     Paris,  Jul}^  6  1674.     £4.9.0. 

Bolivar,  Simon.  Liberator  of  South  America.  A.  L. 
S.  4  pp.  folio.  Trugillo,  April  2,  1824.  Rare  and 
interesting.     £3.7.0. 

Borgia,  CcBsar — Duke  of  Valentinois.  Natural  son  of 
Pope  Alexander  VI.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  the 
Justiciaries  of  Florence.  Forlini,  April  6,  1501.  In 
beautiful  condition,  and  believed  to  be  unique. 
£8.8.0. 

Buckingham,  George  Villiers,  Duke  oj.  Assassinated. 
A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  the  French  Ambassador.  New- 
market, Feb.  12,  1624.  Very  fine  and  interesting. 
£6.2.6. 

Burghley,  William  Cecil,  Lord.  Minister  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Robert  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Leicester.  Jan.  1,  1563.  Very  fine.  £2. 
12.0. 


98  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Catesby,  Robert.  Chief  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot  con- 
spirators. A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio.  Believed  to  be  unique. 
£12.0.0. 

Catherine  of  Arragon.  1st  Queen  of  Henry  VIII.  A. 
L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  closely  written,  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.  Bucdon,  Ebrero  8.  Very  fine  and  of 
extreme  interest.     £21.0.0. 

Parr,  Catherine.  6th  and  last  Queen  of  Henry  VIII. 
L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  her  brother,  Lord  Parr.  Otelands, 
July  20,  anno  35  [A.  D.  1543].  Written  eight  days 
after  her  marriage  to  the  king.  Fine  and  extremely 
rare.     £13.10.0. 

Chapelain,  Jean.  Author  of  La  Pucelle.  A.  L.  S.  3 
pp.  4to,  to  M.  Huet.  Paris,  Feb.  4,  1662.  Very 
interesting.     £1.11.0. 

Charles  VII,  King  of  France.  Called  "the  Victorious." 
D.  S.  on  vellum.  Mehun,  Jan.  23,  1454.  Extremely 
rare.     10s. 

Charles  /.,  King  of  England.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  the 
Queen  of  Bohemia.  St.  James,  June  28,  1630. 
Very  fine.     [Upcott.]     £4.2.0. 

Charles  II.,  King  of  England.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to 
Cardinal  Mazarin.     Oct.  8,  1660.     £4.14.0. 

Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to 
the  King.     Feb.  23,  1656.     £1.13.0. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  99 

Clairon,  Hippolite  Claire.  Celebrated  actrees.  A.  L. 
S.  3  pp.  4to,  to  the  Duke  of  Aiguillon.  Anspach,  Feb. 
18,  1774.     £1.0.0. 

Clement  VIIL,  Hippolyte  Aldohrandini,  Pope.  A.  L. 
S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Henri  IV.  Rome,  Marzo  26,  1596. 
Very  fine  and  excessively  rare.     £3.14.0. 

Cromwell^  Oliver.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  in  Latin,  to  Car- 
dinal Mazarin.  June  9,  1654.  This  letter  is  doubt- 
less the  composition  of  the  poet  Milton,  who  was 
Cromwell's  Latin  secretary.  Fine  specimen.  £5. 
15.0. 

Cromzvelly  Richard.  Lord  Protector.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
folio,  to  Mr.  Steward.  Fine  and  very  rare.  [Up- 
cott.]     £7.0.0. 

Diana  of  France.  Natural  daughter  of  Henri  II.  and 
Diana  of  Poictiers.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany.  Paris,  May  22,  1575.  Fine  and 
rare.     £1.17.0. 

Edward  IV.,  King  of  England.  Parafe  to  a  warrant 
on  vellum.  "Geven  under  oure  signet  at  oure 
Towre  of  London,  the  XXII.  day  of  August,  the 
third  yere  of  oure  Reign  [1462]."  Excessively  rare. 
£5.5.0. 

Edward  VI,.  King  of  England.  Signature  to  a  license 
for  John,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  to  travel  into  the  Holy 
Land.     Greenwich,  Junii  19,  anno  7   [1553].     With 


100  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

seal.  On  fine  vellum.  Excessively  rare.  [Upcott.] 
£11.5.0. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England.  A.  L.  S.  4  pp.  folio,  to 
James  VI.  of  Scotland.  No  date.  Very  fine.  [Up- 
cott.]    £16.0.0. 

The  Same.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  to  Philip  II.  of  Spain. 
Westminster,  Dec.  16,  1571.  Very  fine  and  of  his- 
torical interest.     £5.0.0. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to 
Sir  Isaac  Wake,  English  Ambassador.  Aug.  28, 
1631.     Very  fine.     [Upcott.]     £5.10.0. 

Elizabeth  of  France.  Queen  of  Philip  IV.  of  Spain.  A. 
L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  Louis  XIII.  [her  brother]. 
I'Escurial,  Aoiit  20.     Fine  and  rare.     £5.7.6. 

Elizabeth  of  France.  Sister  of  Louis  XVI.  Guil- 
lotined. A.  L.  S.  IJ^  pp.  8vo,  to  the  Princess  Lam- 
balle.     Oct.  4,  1791.     Very  rare.     £4.2.0. 

Essex,  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of.  Favorite  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Decapitated.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to 
Queen  Elizabeth.     Sept.  6,  1600.     £17.10.0. 

Estrades,  Godefroi,  Comte  d\  Marshal  of  France.  A. 
L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  Marshal  Turenne.  London, 
Jan.  20,  1662.     Fine  and  interesting.     £2.2.0. 

Evelyn,  John.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  to  Lord  Arlington. 
June  11,  1669.     Fine.     £1.0.0. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  101 

Francis  /.,  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Pope 
Clement  VII.     Very  fine.     £9.0.0. 

Francis  ILy  King  of  France.     D.  S.  7  pp.  folio.     St. 

Germains,  Oct.  4,  1560.     Fine  and  historical.     £3. 

10.0. 
Frederic  11.,  King  of  Prussia.     Called   "the  Great." 

A.  L.  S.  4  pp.  4to,  to  "mon  cher  cousin."     Magde- 

bourg,  Sept.  12,  1742.     £5.10.0. 
Frederic,  King  of  Bohemia.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  the 

English  Ambassador.     La  Haye,  Mai  8,  1731.     [Up- 

cott.]     £4.12.0. 
Gramont,   Philihert,   Comte  de.     A.   L.    S.   2  pp.   folio. 

Francfort,  Mars  17,  1658.     Very  fine.     £1.6.0. 

Henrietta  Maria,  Queen  of  Charles  L  5  A.  L.  S.  4to, 
dated  from  1641  to  1660.  All  very  fine.  £1.16.0, 
£2.0.0,  £2.2.0,  £3.12.0,  £6.10.0. 

Henry  IF.,  King  of  France.  16  very  fine  A.  L.  S. 
folio,  of  various  dates.  Some  written  to  Charles 
IX.  and  Catherine  de  Medicis.  Prices  ranging  from 
£1.8.0.  up  to  £3.3.0. 

Henry  V.,  Kiyig  of  England.  A  request  for  a  pass- 
port for  some  German  merchants,  on  which  the 
King  has  written  "H.  R.  a  vous  mandoies  qu'il  soit 
fait."  Fine,  and  perhaps  unique  in  private  collec- 
tions.    [Upcott.]     £16.10.0. 


102  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Henry  VI. ^  King  of  England.  Sign  Manual  to  a  Peti- 
tion of  John,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  for  a  passport  to  go 
out  of  the  kingdom  "in  pilgrimage  to  visit  certaine 
hooly  places."  In  fine  preservation  and  excessively 
rare.     [Upcott.]     £13.5.0. 

James  /.,  King  of  England.  Letter  subscribed  and 
signed,  1  p.  folio,  to  Henri  IV.  Falkland,  Juillet 
16,  1602.     Fine.     £3.0.0. 

James  III.,  the  old  Pretender,  called  the  Chevalier  de 
St.  George.  A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  to  the  Due  de  Ven- 
dome.  St.  Germain,  Dec.  29,  1710.  Very  fine  and 
rare.     £4.16.0. 

Kepler,  John.  Astronomer.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  in 
Latin,  to  Dr.  Ph.  Miller.  Jan.  ^,  1630.  Very  rare. 
£3.3.0. 

Lamb,  Charles.  Poet  and  essayist.  A.  L.  S.  3  pp. 
folio.     Feb.  7.  1831.     Very  interesting.     £1.15.0. 

Le  Brun,  Charles.  Painter.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to 
Bishop  Huet.  Oct.  28,  1666.  Fine  and  very  rare. 
£4.0.0. 

Locke,  John.  Metaphysician.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  8vo. 
Oates,  Aug.  11,  1704.  Excessively  rare.  No  letter 
of  Locke  has  appeared  in  a  public  sale  except  the 
present.     £9. 

Louis  XIII.,  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  to  the 
Queen.     Laleu,  Oct.  6,  1628.     Fine.     £3. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  103 

Louis  XIV.,  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to  the 
Queen  of  England.  Versailles,  July  25,  1683.  Very 
fine.     £4. 

Louis  XV.,  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to.  Ver- 
sailles, Mai  28,  1756.     Very  fine.     £2. 

Louis  XVI. J  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  to 
George  III.,  King  of  England.  Paris,  Avril  18, 
1792.  Very  fine.  Written  eight  months  before  his 
death.     £6.6.0. 

Louise  de  Savoie,  mother  of  Francis  I.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
folio,  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  Written  a  few 
days  after  the  battle  of  Pavia.  Extremely  fine.  A 
pathetic  letter  relative  to  her  son's  captivity. 
£10. 

Luther,  Martin.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  in  Latin,  to  C.  G. 
Spalatinus.  Jan.  7,  1519.  Rare  and  interesting. 
£16. 

Malherbe,  Francois  de.  The  father  of  French  poetry. 
A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  M.  de  Bouillon;  relative  to  the 
death  of  his  son,  killed  in  a  duel.  [This  letter  has 
sold  at  a  public  sale  in  Paris  for  409  francs.]  Fine 
and  rare.     £1.11.0. 

Marie  Antoinette,  Queen  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to, 
to  her  brother,  the  Archduke  Leopold.  Aug.  12, 
1791.  [Eight  days  after  her  arrest  at  Varennes.] 
Fine  and  very  interesting.     £5. 


104  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  Same.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  8vo.  to  the  Princesse  Lam- 
balle.  Jeudi  [Sept.  1,  1791].  Very  interesting. 
£5.12.6. 

Mary,  Queen  of  England.  "Bloody  Mary."  D.  S.  23^ 
pp.  folio.  June,  1556.  Fine  and  very  rare.  [Up- 
cott.]     £10.10.0. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  Henry  Stuart,  Lord  Darn- 
ley.  A  joint  letter  signed  by  both,  "Marie  R."  and 
"Henry  R.",  to  Matthew,  Earl  of  Lennox.  Dec, 
1565.  The  signature  of  Darnley  is  excessively  rare, 
and  a  paper  on  which  both  signatures  occur  is 
probably  unique.     [Upcott.]     £10. 

Mayenne,  Charles  de  Lorraine,  Due  de.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
folio,  to  the  Due  de  Guise.  Dec.  17,  1590.  Fine 
and  rare.     £1. 

Medicis,  Catherine  de.  Queen  of  Henri  II.  of  France. 
A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Jeanne  d'Albret,  Queen  of 
Navarre.  1572.  Of  the  greatest  historical  interest. 
£9. 

Medicis,  Marie  de.  Queen  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
folio,  to  her  son.  Juin  28,  1638.  Fine  and  rare. 
£2.2.0. 

Moliere,  J.  B.  Poquelin.  The  great  French  dramatist. 
A  certificate,  delivered  by  the  Notaries  upon  the  at- 
testation of  Jacques  Martin  and  Moliere,  and  signed 
by  them.     1  p.  folio,  Jan.  25,  1664.     [We  are  not 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  105 

aware  of  any  specimen  having  occurred  for  public 
sale  in  this  country  except  the  present,  and  but  one 
in  Paris.]     From  the  Hodges  collection.     £10.5.0. 

Monmouth,  James,  Duke  of.  Natural  son  of  Charles 
II.  Beheaded.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Lord  Roches- 
ter. Ringwood,  July,  9  1685.  Very  rare  and  of 
the  highest  interest.     [Upcott.]     £21.10.0. 

Montgomery,  Gabriel,  Comte  de.  Beheaded  1574.  A. 
L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  Viscount  Turenne.  Very  rare. 
£1.4.0. 

Montmorency,  Hefiri  II.,  Due  de.  Marshal  of  France. 
Beheaded.  A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to.  La  Grange,  May 
19,  1627.     Fine  and  rare.     14s. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Emperor  of  France.  A  full 
authority  given  to  Caulincourt,  Duke  of  Vicenza, 
to  negotiate  and  sign  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace 
with  the  Allied  Powers,  and  thus  to  arrest  the  ef- 
fusion of  human  blood  and  the  attendant  calam- 
ities of  war.  A  document  of  the  highest  historical 
importance,  dated  Paris,  Jan.  4,  1814,  and  signed 
by  Napoleon  and  the  Due  de  Bassano.     £10.15.0. 

Nassau,  Maurice  of.  Celebrated  general.  A.  L.  S. 
2H  PP-  folio,  to  the  Due  de  Bouillon.  La  Flaye, 
Juin  23,  1595.  Fine,  rare,  and  very  interesting. 
£2.2.0. 


106  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Nelson,  Horatio,  Lord.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  to  Lieut.- 
Gen.  Fox.     Jan.  1,  1800.     Interesting.     £1.9.0. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to  Lord  Towns- 
hand.     Aug.  25,  1724.     Interesting.     £7. 

Nostradamus,  Ccssar.  [1555-1629.]  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio. 
Fine  and  excessively  rare.     £2.9.0. 

Philip  11. ,  King  of  Spain.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  the 
King  of  France  [Charles  IX].  Written  shortly  after 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.     Very  fine.     £5. 

Piron,  Alexis.  Poet  and  dramatist.  A.  L.  S.  4  pp. 
4to.    Mars  8,  1754.    Fine  and  extremely  rare.    £2.2.0. 

Pope,  Alexander.  Poet.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to  his 
publisher.     Aug.    16,    1732.     Interesting.     £1.12.0. 

Poussin,  Nicholas.  Great  painter.  A  number  of  fine 
A.  L.  S.  4to  or  folio,  at  prices  varying  from  £2.4.0 
to  £3.8.0. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter.  A  Petition  to  the  Lord  High 
Chancellor,  requesting  that  a  Commission  might 
be  issued  to  correct  some  abuses  which  had  occurred 
relative  to  the  authority  given  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  Raleigh  to  grant  licenses  for  the  sale  of  wines 
by  retail.  Signed  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  by 
Lord  Burghley  and  Sir  John  Popham.     £5.7.0. 

Raphael  Sanzio.  The  greatest  of  painters.  A  study 
of  two  horses'  heads,  with  men's  arms,  sketched  in 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  107 

pen  and  ink,  and  having  several  lines  of  writing  in 
his  autograph.     Extremely  rare.     £11.11.0. 

Rembrandt.  Celebrated  Dutch  painter.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
4to,  to  Const.  Huygens.     Excessively  rare.     £10. 

Richard  III.^  King  of  England.  Warrant  dated  April 
15,  Anno  1  [1484],  for  the  payment  of  money.  Signed 
in  full  "Ricardus  Rex."     Fine.     [Upcott.]     £25.10.0. 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques.  Several  A.  L.  S.  4to,  2  or  3 
pages,  at  prices  varying  from  £1.19.0  to  £5.5.0. 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul.  Great  painter.  3  A.  L.  S.  folio, 
2  or  3  pages,  at  prices  varying  from  £4.18.0  to  £5.7.6. 

Rupert,  Prince.  The  great  general.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio. 
Bristol,  July  5,  1645.  Fine  and  rare.  [Upcott.] 
£8.10.0. 

Sales,  Saint  Francis  de.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  "a  son  al- 
tesse  serenissime."  Sept.  17,  1611.  Fine  and  ex- 
cessively rare.     £4.11.0. 

Salisbury,  Robert  Cecil,  Earl  of.  A.  L.  S.  4  pp.  folio. 
Farnham,  Sept.  21,  1601.  Fine  and  very  interesting. 
£6.10.0. 

Saumaise,  Claude  de.  Critic.  A.  L.  S.  23^  pp.  folio, 
to  M.  du  Puy.  Leyden,  Feb.  28,  1638.  Fine.  [Up- 
cott.]    £1.1.0. 

Scaliger,  Joseph  Justus.  Philologist.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
folio,  to  M.  de  St.  Marthe.  August  10,  1606.  Fine. 
£1.13.0. 


108  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Scott,  Sir  Walter.  Poet  and  novelist.  A.  L.  S.  4to, 
2pp.  May  16,  1800,  and  A.  L.  S.  4to,  3  pp.,  March, 
1802,  to  Cadell  and  Davies.  Fine  and  interesting. 
Each,  £1.2.0. 

Sforza,  Ludovicus  Marie.  Surnamed  "the  Moor."  A. 
L.  S.  to  Pandolphino.  Milan,  1496.  Excessively- 
rare.     10s.  6d. 

Somerset,  Edward,  Duke  of.  Commonly  styled  "the 
Protector."  Beheaded  in  1552.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio, 
to  the  Justices  of  the  Peace.  July,  1549.  Fine  and 
rare.     16s. 

Strafford,  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of.  Beheaded  in 
1641.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio.  Dublin,  Aug.  21,  1634. 
[Upcott.]     £7.7.6. 

Suffolk,  Edmund  de  la  Pole,  Duke  of.  Nephew  of  Ed- 
ward IV.,  and  heir  apparent  to  the  throne.  Beheaded 
in  1513.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  closely  written,  to 
Thomas  Killengworth.  About  the  year  1506.  Very 
rare,  if  not  unique.     £7. 

Tasso,  Bernardo.  Poet.  Father  of  the  great  Tasso. 
Letter  subscribed  and  signed,  1  p.  folio,  to  Speroni. 
Vinegia,  Agosto  19,  1559.  Fine.  [From  the  Hodges 
Collection.]     £1.6.0. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry.  Parliamentarian.  Beheaded  in  1662. 
A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  William  II.,  Prince  of  Orange. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  1()9 

Whitehall,    Feb.    26,    1629.     Fine    and    interesting. 

£2.4.0. 
Veronese^  Paolo  Cagliari,  called.      Noted  painter.     A. 

L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  his  patron  Marc  Antonio  Gandini. 

Marzo  31,  1578.     Good  specimen.     Very  rare.     £2. 
The  Same.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  his  patron  Gandini. 

Very  fine.     £1.10.0. 
Villeroy,  Nicolas  de  Neujville  de.     Minister  of  State  to 

four  French  kings.     A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  to  King 

Henri  IV.     Paris,  Nov.  10,  1598.     Fine,  interesting, 

and  very  rare.     £1.6.0. 
Vincent  de  Paul.,  Saint.     A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  to  M.  Du 

Festel.     Breste,  Nov.  28,   1642.     In   perfect  condi- 
tion and  excessively  rare.     £5. 
Wren.,  Sir  Christopher.     Architect.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio. 

July   28,    1675.     Fine,    interesting,    and   excessively 

rare.     [Upcott.]     £15. 
York,  Anne  Hyde,  Duchess  of.     Wife  of  James,  Duke  of 

York;  afterwards  King  James  II.     A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to, 

to  her  sister  Lady  Henrietta  Hyde.     York,  Aug.  14, 

[1666].     Very    fine    and    extremely    rare.     [Upcott.] 

£5.5.0. 

Collection  of  Baron  de  Tremont 

Louis  Philippe  Joseph,  Baron  de  Tremont,  was  a 
French  prevet  and  an  enthusiastic  collector.     He  was 


110  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

born  in  the  year  1779,  and  died  in  1852.  His  collec- 
tion was  sold  at  auction  in  Paris;  the  first  portion  of  it 
in  December,  1852,  and  the  two  succeeding  portions  in 
February  and  April,  1853.  The  catalogue  was  pre- 
pared with  great  care  by  M.  Laverdet.  It  consists  of 
three  parts  numbering,  respectively,  222,  151,  and  196 
8vo  pages.  The  first  part  comprised  1482  items;  the 
second,  1200  items;  and  the  third,  1337  items.  A 
majority  of  the  items  consisted  of  a  single  letter  or  docu- 
ment; but  frequently  many  names  were  grouped  in  a 
lot. 

While  the  collection  was  largely  composed  of  names 
of  ordinary  occurrence  and  small  importance,  it  was 
notable  for  its  extensive  series  of  persons  who  were 
prominent  in  the  French  Revolution,  and  of  noted 
French  actors  and  actresses;  and  especially  for  the 
number  and  character  of  the  letters  of  first  importance 
— and,  frequently,  of  great  rarity — that  appear  in  the 
first  part  of  the  catalogue.  The  following  named  are 
certainly  worthy  of  mention. 

Alengon,  Rene  de  Valois,  Due  d\     Died  1492.     Con- 
fined by  Louis  XI.  in  an  iron  cage.     Quittance  signed, 
on  parchment.     Tours,  Juin  24,  1490. 
Alexander  VI. ^  Roderic  Borgia,  Pope.     L.  S.  on  parch- 
ment.    To  the  King  of  France.     Rome,  Oct.  8,  1499. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  111 

Anne  de  Bretagne.     Queen  of  France.     L.  S.  1  p.  4to. 

To  my  cousin  the  Prince  de  Rohan.     Amboise,  May 

8,  1498. 
Bassompierre,    Marshal.     1579-1649.     A.  L.   S.   2   pp. 

folio.    To  Marshal  de  Breze.     Sept.  17,  1643. 

Bayard,  Pierre — Seigneur  du  Terr  ail.  The  Chevalier 
Sans  peur  et  sans  reproche.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  large  folio, 
to  King  Louis  XII.  Du  camp  de  Payava,  le  IP  jour 
d'Octobre.  With  certificate  of  genuineness  from  M. 
Teulet,  archiviste  paleographe  of  the  National  Ar- 
chives. 

Beze,  Theodore  de.  Illustrious  reformer.  A.  L.  S.  3  pp. 
folio,  to  Vicomte  de  Turenne.     Geneve,  9  Mars  1591. 

Biron,  Armand  de  Gontaut,  Due  de.  Marshal  of  France. 
A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  the  King.     May  24,  1578. 

Boileau-Despreaux,  Nicolas.  Poet.  1636-1711.  A. 
L.  S.  \}/2  pp.  4to.     Paris,  Samedi,  2  Juin. 

Bonaparte,  Madame.  Mother  of  Napoleon.  1750- 
1836.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to.  To  her  son  Lucien.  Paris. 
27  Nivose. 

Borgia,  Ccesar.  Natural  son  of  Pope  Alexander  VI. 
Died  in  1507.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  with  autograph  sub- 
scription of  two  lines.  To  Pietro  de  Medici.  Rome, 
Dec.  8,  1472. 


112  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Boucicaut,    Jean    Le    Maigre^    Sire    de.     Marshal    of 

France.     1364-1421.     Quittance    signed,   on    parch- 
ment.    Nov.  29,  1395. 
Bourbofi,    Matthieu    de.      Called    "le    grand    batard." 

Noted    warrior.     Quittance    signed,    on   parchment. 

July  20,  1499. 
Bourbon,  Charles  II.,  Cardinal  de.     Proclaimed,  by  the 

League,  King  of  France,  under  the  title  of  Charles  X. 

D.  S.  on  parchment,  1  p.  double  folio.     Angers,  Feb. 

4,  1570. 
Camden,  William.     Historian.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio  (in 

Latin).     To   Jacques   Auguste   de   Thou.     London, 

July,  1596. 
Caracchi,  Ludovico.     Eminent  painter.     A.  L.  S.   1  p. 

folio.     Bologna,  15  Feb.  1617. 
Carignan,  Thomas  Frangois  de  Savoie,  Prince  de.     Great 

warrior.      1596-1656.     A.   L.    S.    1    p.   small    folio. 

To  S.  A.  R.  Madame. 
Catherine  de   Medicis,   Queen   of  France.      1519-1589. 

A.  L.   S.  2  pp.  folio.     To  her  daughter,  la  Royne 

Catolique. 
Chapelain,  Jean.     Poet.     A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to.     To  M. 

Colbert.     Paris,  July  14,  1661. 
Charles   V.,  King   of  France.      1337-1380.      A.  L.   S. 

}/2   p.   4to.     To   Maitre   Giles   Malet,   his   valet   de 

chambre.      Au    boyz  de  Vicenez   le   XXP  jour   de 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  113 

May.     With  M.  Teulet's  certificate  of  authenticity. 

Very  fine. 
Charles  F.,  Emperor  of  Germany.     1500-1558.     A.  L. 

S.  [in  French]  3  pp.  folio.     To  Philibert  de  Nassau, 

Prince  of  Orange. 
Charles  VL,  King  of  France.     1368-1422.     D.  S.  with 

one   line   autograph,   oblong  4to.     Abbeville,   le   25 

jour  de  May. 
Charles  FIL,  King  of  France.     1407-1461.     L.  S.  on 

parchment.    To  Charles,  Marquis  de  Baude.    Nancy, 

in  Lorraine,  le  4'  jour  d'Avril,  1445. 
Charles  Fill.,  King  of  France.     1470-1498.     A.  L.  S. 

1  p.  oblong  folio.     To  Mon  chier  et  bien  ame  cousyn, 

le  Conte  de  Guyse.     Montelzles-Tours,  ce  setiesme 

jour  d'Octtobre.     Feryfine. 

Charles  IX.,  King   of  France.     1550-1574.     A.  L.  S. 

I  p.  folio.     To  M.  de  la  Mole. 

CharleSy   Due   de   Bourgogne — surnamed   le    Temeraire. 
1433-1477.    A.  L.  S.  i^  p.  folio.     To  M.  de  Grancey. 

II  aout. 

Charles  II.,  Due  de  Lorraine.     Surnamed  "the  Great." 

A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to  the  King.     1602. 
Christian  III.,  King  of  Denmark.     L.   S.    1   p.   folio. 

Sept.  4,  1547.     To  Henri  II.,  king  of  France. 


114  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Claude  of  France,  wife  of  Francis  I.     1499-1524.     L. 

S.  1  p.  4to.     Blois,  August  27.    To  the  Surintendant 

of  Finances,  Baron  de  Samblanjay. 
Clement  VII.,  Pope.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Paolo  de 

Victorys.     Florence,  May  8,  1522. 
Clement  IX.,  Pope.     1599-1669.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio. 

Rome,  March  30,  1664. 
Coligny,  Gaspard  de  Chastillon,    Sire   de.     1517-1572. 

The  illustrious  leader  of  the  Huguenots.     A.  L.  S.  1 

p.  4to.     To  M.  de  Plancy.     Blois,  Oct.  2. 
Colonna,    Vittoria — Marquise  de  Pescara.     Celebrated 

Italian  lady.     1490-1541.     A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  to 

Cardinal    de    Trivulce.     Lucques,    Oct.    23,    1538. 

Superb  letter. 
Coypel,   Noel.     Great   painter.     A.    L.    S.    1    p.    folio. 

Paris,  Aug.  30,  1696. 
D^Albret,  Jeanne.     Queen  of  Navarre.     A.  L.  S.   1  p. 

folio.     To   Monsieur,    frere   du    Roi.     La    Rochelle, 

Feb.  4. 
Descartes,  Rene.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Pere  Mersenne. 

Amsterdam,  Aug.  14,  1634. 
Diane  de  Poitiers,  Duchesse  de  Valentinois.     Mistress 

of  King  Henri  H.     1499-1566.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio, 

to  M.  de  Beaumont.     Chalons,  Juin  16. 
Dunois,  Jean,  Comte  de  Longueville  et  de.     Called  "the 

Bastard  of  Orleans."     Companion  in  arms  of  Jeanne 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  115 

d'Arc.      1402-1468.     A.   L.   S.   K  P-   oblong   folio. 

To  Madame  de  Dampierre.     Saint  Benoit,  Sept.  20. 
Elizabeth,   Queen   of  England.      1533-1602.      A.   L.   S. 

2/^  pp.  folio  [in  French],  to  King  Henri  III. 
Elzevier,  Abraham.     Printer.     Died  in  1652.     A.  L.  S. 

folio,  to  Pere  Mersenne.     March  8,  1638. 
Estrees,  Gabrielle  d\     The  celebrated  mistress  of  Henri 

IV.     A.  L.   S.  folio,  signed  with  her  paraphe.     To 

Henri  IV. 
Estrees,  Jeanne  d\     Mistress  of  Henri  IV.     A.  L.  S.  1 

p.  folio.     To  Madame  de  Lannoye. 
Francis  /.,   King  of  France.     A.   L.   S,   4to.     To  the 

Emperor  Charles  V. 
Francis  II.,  King  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  large  folio. 

To  the  Constable  Montmorency, 
Frederic  II.  (the  Great),  King  of  Prussia.     A.  L.  S.  2 

pp.  4to,  in  verse  and  prose.     To  Voltaire.     Potsdam, 

May  24,  1750. 
Galilei,  Galileo.    The  great  natural  philosopher.     1564- 

1642.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     Padua,  Jan.  5,  1601. 
Galland,  Antoine.    Translator  of  the  "Arabian  Nights." 

A.  L.  S.  4  pp.  4to.    Aug.  22,  1706.     To  the  Bishop  of 

Avanches. 
Garcias  Laso,  or  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega.     Eminent  Span- 
ish poet.      1505-1536.      L.  S.,  with  autograph  sub- 


116  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

scription    of    two    lines.     To    Prince    de    Florence. 

March  15,  1567. 
Guicciardini,    Francisco.     Noted   historian.     A.    L.    S. 

1  p.  folio.     Milano,  May  27,  1518. 
Guise,  Francois  de  Lorraine,  Due  de.     Assassinated  by 

Poltrot.      1519-1563.     A.   L.   S.  folio.     To  M.   de 

Tavannes. 
Guise,  Henri  de  Lorraine,  Due  de.     Called  "Balafre." 

A.  L.  S.  1  p.  large  folio.     To  M.  de  Laussac.     Oct.  1, 

1581. 
Guise,  Henri  IL  de  Lorraine,  Due  de.     1614-1664.     A. 

L.  S.  3  pp.  4to.     To  his  Eminence.     Jan.  28,  1655. 
Henri  IL,  King  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     To  Cardinal 

de  Lorraine.     December  21. 
Henry  FIIL,  King  of  England,     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio  (in 

French).     To  Queen  Catherine  de  Medicis. 
Ignatius   Loyola,  Saint.      1491-1566.      A.  L.   S.  large 

folio,     [in   Latin].     To   Nicolas   de   Furno.     Rome, 

10th  day. 
James  I.,  King  of  England.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  large  folio. 

To  King  Henri  IV.     Dec.  28,  1605. 
Julius  II.,  Pope.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  oblong  4to.     To  Lorenzo 

de  Medicis.     July  10,  1473. 
Lafontaine,  Jean  de.     Fabulist.     A.  L.  S.  in  prose  and 

verse,  1  p.  small  8vo.     To  Mons.  A.  Chauny.     April 

29. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  117 

Lamballe,   Princesse   de.     17^9-1792.      A.    L.    S.    1    p. 

large  folio.     To  the  King.     Paris,  Jan.  2,  1792. 
La  Tremoille,  Louis  IL,  Sire  de.     Vicomte  de  Thouars. 

Surnamed    "le    Chevalier    sans    reproche."      1460- 

1525.     L.   S.    \]/2  PP-   large  folio.     To  Vicomte  de 

Tavanne. 
La   Valliere,  Louise  Fran^oise  de  la  Baume  Le  Blanc, 

Duchesse  de.     Mistress  of  Louis  XIV.     1644-1710. 

A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  to  M.  de  Verneuil.     March  15. 
Leicester,  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of.     Favorite  of  Queen 

Elizabeth.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Lord  Cecil.     July 

7,  1566. 
Lenclos,  Anne  de.     Commonly  called   Ninon  de  Len- 

clos.     Famous    French   courtesan.     1615-1706.     A. 

L.  S.  1  p.  small  4to,  to  M.  de  Bourepaux. 
Leo  X.,  Pope.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  oblong  4to.     To  his  brother, 

Pietro  de  Medicis.     Nov.  5,  1492. 
Lessing,  Gotthold  Ephraim.     Celebrated  German  writer. 

1729-1781.    A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to. 
Lorraine,    Louis    de    Guise,    Cardinal   de.     Celebrated 

leaguer.      1527-1588.     A.  L.   S.   1   p.  folio,  to   the 

King.     Avignon,  May  26,  1572. 
Louis  VIL,  King   of  France.     1120-1180.     D.  S.   [in 

Latin]  on  parchment,  subscribed  with  his  monogram, 

1  p.  large  folio.     1173.     [From  the  collection  of  M. 

IMonmerque.] 


118  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Louis  IX.,  King  of  France.  1215-1273.  D.  S.  4to, 
on  parchment  [in  Latin],  signed  with  his  monogram. 
Aug.  1244.     [From  the  Monmerque  collection.] 

Louis  XIL,  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  large  folio, 
to  the  Emperor  Maximilien.     Blois,  Mai  10. 

Louis  XVL,  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  13^2  PP-  4to,  to 
the  National  Assembly.     Dec.  31,  1791. 

Luynes,  Charles  d^ Albert,  Due  de.  Constable  of  France. 
A.  L.  S.  1  p.  large  folio,  to  Comte  de  Tilliers.  Abbe- 
ville, Dec.  22,  1620. 

Machiavelli,  Niccolo.  Famous  Italian  statesman  and 
writer.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Fr.  Nigro.  Aug.  31, 
1523. 

Marguerite  de  Valois,  Queen  of  Navarre.  Sister  of 
Francis  I.  Named  "la  Marguerite  des  Marguer- 
ites." 1492-1549.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to.  To  Madame 
de  Clermont. 

Marguerite  de  France.  Sister  of  Charles  IX.,  and  first 
wife  of  Henri  IV.  1552-1615.  A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio. 
To  the  King,  my  husband.  Chateau  d'Usson,  April, 
1599. 

Marie  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scots.  1542-1587.  A.  L.  S. 
1  p.  large  folio.  Written  from  her  prison  to  M.  de  la 
Mothe  de  Vaingiield.     September  22. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  119 

Marie  Antoinette^  Queen  of  France.  Guillotined.  A. 
L.  S.  1  full  p.  4to,  to  the  Princessc  de  Lamballe. 
Nov.  17. 

Marillac,  Louis  de,  Comte  de  Beaumont.  Marshal  of 
France.  1572-1632.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Car- 
dinal Richelieu.     Paris,  March  12,  1629. 

Mary  /.,  Queen  of  England.  "Bloody  Mary."  L.  S. 
1  p.  oblong  folio  [in  Latin];  also  signed  by  her  hus- 
band, King  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  To  Cosmo  de  Medi- 
cis.     Westminster,  Feb.  19,  1554. 

Mezeray,  Frangois  Eudes.  Historian.  1610-1683.  A. 
L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  to  the  Abbe  Huet.  Ce  Mardi  4 
Decembre. 

Michel-Angelo  Buonarotti.  The  grand  painter.  1474- 
1564.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Cardinal  Trivulcc. 
Aug.  13. 

Mignard,  Pierre.  Painter.  161Q-1695.  A.  L.  S.  1 
p.  4to,  to  M.  Garique.     Versailles,  July  15. 

Moliere,  Jean  Baptiste  Pocquelin.  Famous  dramatist. 
1620-1673.  D.  S.  on  parchment,  on  the  back  of  a 
receipt  for  money.  Also  signed  by  the  Minister  Le 
Tellier.     June  30,  1660. 

Montcalm  de  Sai^it  Veran,  Louis  Joseph,  Marquis  de. 
Killed  at  Quebec  in  1759.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to  I'Abbe 
Donadieu.  Au  camp  le  1"  Septembre,  en  Flandre, 
1755. 


120  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Montmorency,  Anne  de.  Constable  and  Marshal  of 
France.  1493-1567.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  M.  de 
Villandry. 

Norfolk,  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of.  English  Admiral 
and  General.  1473-1554.  Acquiesced  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  his  niece,  Anne  Boleyn.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
folio,  1527. 

Pare,  Ambroise.  Father  of  French  surgery.  1518- 
1590.  D.  S.  with  his  paraffe,  on  parchment.  Dec. 
1581. 

Philippe  Auguste  [Philippe  II.],  King  of  France.  1165- 
1223.  D.  S.  with  his  monogram  [in  Latin]  on  parch- 
ment.    [From  the  Monmerque  collection.] 

Pius  II.,  ^neas  Piccolomini,  Pope.  1404-1464.  A. 
L.  S.  1  p.  4to  [in  Latin].     Jan.  15,  1450. 

Poliziano,  Angelo.  Noted  poet  and  historian.  1454- 
1494.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to,  to  Lorenzo  de  Medici.  Pis- 
tole, Sept.  12,  1478. 

Portsmouth,  Louise  de  Querouille,  Duchess  of.  Noted 
as  the  mistress  of  King  Charles  XL  A.  L.  S.  2  pp. 
4to,  to  M.  Desmarets.     Paris,  Aug.  15,  1713. 

Pulci,  Luigi.  Poet.  1432-1487.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to, 
to  Lorenzo  de  Medici.     Sept.  8,  1474. 

Rabelais,  Francois.  The  great  French  satirical  writer. 
1485-1553.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  to  Cardinal  du 
Bellay.     Plaisance,  Ic   13  Avril. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  121 

Rantzau^  Joseph,  Comte  de.  Marshal  of  France.  Died 
in  1650.  Celebrated  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  Suf- 
fered fearful  wounds.  A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to,  to  Cardinal 
Mazarin.     Aug.  8,  1648. 

Raphael  Sanzio.     The  superb  painter.     1483-1520.     A 
study  of  two  heads  of  horses,  with  the  arms  of  men, 
sketched  in  ink;  with  5  lines  in  his  autograph.     Dated 
1510.     [From  the  Donnadieu  collection.] 

Rene  D'Anjou.  "The  good  King  Rene."  1408—1480. 
A.  L.  S.  1  p.  4to.  to  Maitre  Jehannot.  Le  flament 
15  Octobre. 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul.  Painter.  A.  L.  S.  [in  Italian]  2 
pp.  folio,  to  M.  DuPuy.     Anvers,  May  13,  1627. 

Sales,  Saint  Francis  de.  1567-1622.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp. 
folio,  to  Son  Altesse.     April  20,  1617. 

Scala,  Bartolomeo.  Celebrated  Italian  poet  and  his- 
torian. 1424-1497.  A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio.  Florence, 
April  24,  1470. 

Sevigne,  Marie  de  Rabutin  Chantal,  Marquise,  de.  1627- 
1696.  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  4to  [circa  1658].  Pour  Mons. 
Menage. 

Sforza,  Galeas  Maria  Visconti.  Duke  of  Milan.  1444- 
1476.  Cruel  and  sanguinary  Prince.  A.  L.  S.  1  p. 
oblong  4to,  to  Lorenzo  de  Medici.     Aug.  12. 


122  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Sorel,  Agnes.     Mistress   of    Charles  VII.     1410-1450. 

A.  L.  S.  }/2  p.  oblong  folio.     To  le  Sire  de  la  Varenne. 

Le  18  jour  d'Aout. 
Strafford,  Thomas  Wentzvorth,  Earl  of.     1593-1641.     A. 

L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  his  wife.     York,  Sept.  20,  1632. 
Talbot,  John — Earl  of  Shrewsbury.     Illustrious  warrior. 

1373-1453.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  oblong  folio.     To  Chas- 

telain  de  la  Motte  Seurin.     Ce  23  jour  de  May. 
Tromp,  Martin  Harpertzoon.     Noted  Dutch  Admiral. 

1597-1653.    A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio.    May  24,  1644. 
Urbain  Fill.,  Pope.     1568-1644.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio. 

Rome,  Feb.  14,  1592. 
Veronese,    Paolo    Cagliari,    called.     Eminent    painter. 

1530-1588.     A.  L.  S.  1  p.  folio,  to  Sig.  Marinetto. 

Venice,Oct.  27, 1578. 
Vinci,  Leonardo  da.     Grand  painter.     1452-1519.     A 

paper,   2pp.   4to,   containing  drawings  by  him  and 

twelve  lines  in  his  handwriting. 

The  Dawson  Turner  Collection. 

One  of  the  most  noted  collections  of  the  19th  cen- 
tury was  that  of  Dawson  Turner,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  S.  A.,  etc., 
formerly  of  Yarmouth,  England,  which  contained  up- 
wards of  forty  thousand  autograph  letters  or  docu- 
ments of  persons  of  all  nationalities  and  in  all  the  ranks 


DAWSON  TURNER 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  123 


and  walks  of  life,  many  of  them  being  of  first  impor- 
tance. After  his  death  the  collection  was  sold,  by 
auction,  in  London,  in  June,  1859.  The  sale  catalogue 
is  an  8vo  volume  of  308  pages,  with  many  plates  of 
fac-similes.  Most  of  the  important  letters  were  in- 
cluded in  lots  of  large  size;  some  of  them  being  bound 
volumes  whose  contents  comprised  items  numbering, 
respectively,  565,  1300,  1500,  2300,  9000  and  9100 
letters  and  documents. 

Among  such  a  wealth  of  material  it  is  not  possible 
to  name  more  than  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  names 
to  be  found  in  the  lists  of  the  six  largest  series.  They 
specify  A.  L.  S.  folio  or  4to  of  Dr.  Arne  [composer], 
Barbara,  Duchess  of  Cleveland  [mistress  of  Charles 
II.],  Robert  Boyle  [philosopher],  Duke  of  Buckingham 
[assassinated  by  Felton],  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Capt. 
James  Cook,  Rene  Descartes,  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of 
Leicester,  George  Fox  [the  Quaker],  Thos.  Gainsbor- 
ough [painter],  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  King  James 
I.,  C.  Jordaens  [painter],  Duchess  de  la  Valliere  [mis- 
tress of  Louis  XIV.],  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  Blaise  Pascal,  Richard  Porson,  Salvator  Rosa 
[painter],  Prince  Rupert,  Paul  Veronese  [painter], 
Simon  Vouet  [painter].  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  and 
Gen.  James  Wolfe;  and  of  the  following  named  English 
poets,    essayists,    dramatists,    historians,    and    miscel- 


124  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

laneous  prose- writers,  viz:  Joseph  Addison,  Richard 
Baxter,  Robert  Blair,  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  Robert 
Burns,  Lord  Byron,  Mrs.  Centlivre,  Charles  Churchill, 
Earl  of  Clarendon  [historian  of  the  Rebellion],  William 
Congreve,  Daniel  De  Foe,  John  Dryden,  Henry  Field- 
ing, John  Gay  Edward  Gibbon,  Dr.  Sam.  Johnson,  Ben. 
Jonson  [autograph  inscription  signed,  1  page  4to],  John 
Keats,  Sir  W.  Killegrew,  Andrew  Marvell,  Matthew 
Prior,  Alex.  Pope,  Samuel  Richardson,  Nicholas  Rowe, 
John  Selden,  Percy  B.  Shelley,  Tobias  Smollett,  Thomas 
Southerne,  Sir  Richard  Steele,  Lawrence  Sterne,  Dean 
Swift,  James  Thomson,  Edmund  Waller,  Henry  Kirke 
White,  and  William  Wycherly. 

In  many  cases  there  were  several — three  or  more — 
letters  of  the  same  person. 

The  total  sum  realized  for  this  immense  collection, 
including  a  considerable  number  of  fine  illuminated 
manuscripts  and  valuable  documents,  was  [what  would 
now  be  regarded  as  the  paltry  sum  of]  £6558. 


The   Collection   of   Mons.   Lucas   de   Montigny, 

Counsellor  of  the  Prefecture  of  the 

Department  of  the  Seine. 

In  the  year  1860,  the  collection  of  the  late  M.  Lucas 
de  Montigny  was  disposed  of  at  public  sale  in  Paris. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  125 

The  sale  was  divided  among  sixteen  sessions.  The 
catalogue  is  an  8vo  volume  of  550  pages,  containing 
2954  separate  lots,  many  of  which  comprised  a  large 
number  of  autographs.  The  size  of  the  collection  was, 
therefore,  very  considerable.  The  catalogue  describes 
the  pieces  with  great  care,  and  frequently  gives  the 
contents — especially  of  all  letters  of  historical  impor- 
tance— either  in  full  or  in  an  abstract  form. 

The  most  notable  series  in  this  collection  was  that 
of  the  leading  persons  in  the  French  Revolution  and 
the  "reign  of  terror."  These  were  letters  or  documents 
of  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  Convention,  and,  in 
addition,  a  very  considerable  number  of  orders  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety  for  the  arrest  and  imprisonment 
of  individuals  or  for  setting  them  at  liberty.  Of  special 
importance,  too,  were  the  letters — about  148  in  num- 
ber— written  by  King  Henry  III.  of  France;  and  those 
of  Queen  Catherine  de  Medicis — 41  pieces — to  many  of 
her  officials,  in  relation  to  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
kingdom. 

Apart  from  the  autographs  thus  named,  and  some 
correspondence  of  King  Henry  IV.,  the  bulk  of  the  col- 
lection was  made  up  of  pieces  of  small  moment.  Real 
rarities  seldom  occurred. 

Of  letters  separately  catalogued  as  A.  L.  S.  folio  or 
4to,  the  following  may  be  named:     Charles,  Cardinal 


126  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

de  Bourbon  [proclaimed  King  of  France  under  the  name 
of  Charles  X.],  Jean  Chapelain  [1595-1674],  Diana  of 
France  [1538-1619],  Madame  Elizabeth  [sister  of  Louis 
XVI.],  Alexander  Farnese,  Duke  of  Parma  [1545-1592], 
Frangois  Malherbe,  poet  [1555-1628],  Marguerite  de 
Valois,  Queen  of  France  and  Navarre  [1552-1615],  Gilles 
Menage,  poet  [1613-1693],  and  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul 
[1576-1660]. 

Among  L.  S.  or  D.  S.  worthy  of  mention,  are 
Charles,  Constable  of  France  [1489-1527],  King  Charles 
V.  of  France  [1337-1380],  Diana  of  Poitiers  [1499-1556], 
Johan,  Comte  de  Dunois  [Bastard  of  Orleans,  1402- 
1468],  Henri  D'Albret,  King  of  Navarre  [1503-1555], 
Pierre  Mignard,  painter  [1610 — 1685],  Charles  Le  Val- 
ois, Due  d'Orleans  [poet,  father  of  Louis  XII.,  1391- 
1465],  Ambroise  Pare,  surgeon  [1510-1590],  and  Blaise 
Pascal  [1623-1662]. 

The  Collections  of  Mr.  Young,  Mr.  John  Dillon, 
AND  Mr.  Samuel  Addington. 

A  remarkably  fine  collection  was  disposed  of  when 
that  of  Mr.  Young  came  to  the  auction  rooms  in  Lon- 
don, in  April,  1869.  The  catalogue  numbered  125 
pages,  large  8vo,  and  embraced  1050  separate  items, 
"the  whole  in  singularly  fine  condition,  selected  with 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  127 

great  care,  solicitude  and  judgment,  as  to  historical 
and  literary  importance,  from  the  various  collections 
that  have  been  dispersed  during  the  last  forty  years." 
Among  the  few  letters  oj first  importance  that  space  per- 
mits to  be  named,  mention  should  be  made  of  the  mem- 
orable A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio  of  King  Charles  the  First 
to  the  Marquis  of  Ormond  [quoted  in  full  in  another 
chapter];  a  characteristic  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  to  his  son;  and  a  most  pathetic  A.  L.  S.  folio 
of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  written  while  he  was  a  prisoner 
in  the  Tower. 

As  being  of  unusual  occurrence,  or  as  having  ex- 
ceptional interest,  we  may  also  name  A.  L.  S.  folio  or 
4to  of  Jeanne  d'Albret,  Queen  of  Navarre,  to  Charles 
IX.;  Admiral  Robert  Blake;  Sir  Thos.  Browne;  George 
VilHers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  to  Cardinal  Richelieu 
[1626];  William  Camden  [historian];  Catherine,  Em- 
press of  Russia;  Capt.  James  Cook  [circumnavigator], 
Abraham  Cowley  [poet];  Diana  of  Poitiers;  John  Dry- 
den;  Queen  Elizabeth,  to  King  Henry  the  Fourth,  of 
France;  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia;  Robert  Dever- 
eux,  Earl  of  Essex,  to  King  Charles  I.;  Henry  Fielding; 
Jean  de  la  Fontaine;  Francis  I.,  King  of  France;  Fran- 
cis n.,  King  of  France;  Oliver  Goldsmith;  Sir  Matthew 
Hale;  James  I.,  King  of  England,  to  Henry  the  Fourth, 
of  France;  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller;  Martin  Luther;  Niccolo 


128  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Macchiavelli;  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots;  James,  Duke  of 
Monmouth;  James  Graham,  Marquis  of  Montrose; 
Sir  Isaac  Newton ;  Algernon  Percy,  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land; Titus  Oates;  Johan  van  Olden  Barneveldt  [emi- 
nent Dutch  statesman];  Philip  I.,  King  of  Spain;  Reg- 
inald, Cardinal  Pole;  Francois  Rabelais  [famous  French 
author];  Jean  Racine;  Rembrandt  [the  great  painter]; 
Cardinal  Richelieu;  Peter  Paul  Rubens;  Johannes 
Secundus  [Latin  poet];  John  Selden  [historian];  Sir 
Philip  Sidney;  Benedict  Spinoza  [founder  of  modern 
Pantheism];  Paul  Veronese  [painter];  Edmund  Waller; 
John  Whitgift,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury;  Cardinal 
Wolsey,  to  the  Archduchess  of  Parma,  Regent  of  the 
Netherlands;  and  Sir  Henry  Wotton. 

The  collection  of  Mr.  John  Dillon,  sold  in  June, 
1869,  was,  in  its  general  character,  very  much  like  that 
of  Mr.  Young,  and,  while  slightly  larger,  was  of  about 
the  same  importance.  A  number  of  its  leading  items 
may  be  specified;  such  as  A.  L.  S.  folio  or  4to  of  Francis 
Bacon,  Viscount  St.  Albans  [Lord  High  Chancellor]; 
Nicolas  Boileau-Despreaux;  many  letters  and  poems 
of  Robert  Burns ;  John  Calvin  [reformer] ;  Robert  Cates- 
by  [chief  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot  conspirators];  Charles 
I.,  to  his  sister,  the  Queen  of  Bohemia;  Charles  XL,  to 
Prince  Rupert;  Mrs.  Susan  Cibber  [actress],  to  Garrick; 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  129 

Pope  Clement  VIII.,  to  Henry  the  Fourth,  of  France; 
Barbara  Palmer,  Duchess  of  Cleveland  [mistress  of 
Charles  II.];  William  Congreve  [dramatist];  George 
Fred.  Cooke  [tragedian];  Oliver  Cromwell;  Sir  William 
Davenant  [poet];  Sir  Francis  Drake  [D.  S.  on  vellum]; 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam;  Henry  Fielding;  George  Fox 
[the  Quaker];  Francis  I.,  King  of  France,  to  the  Em- 
peror Charles  V.;  John  Gay  [poet];  Oliver  Goldsmith, 
to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds;  John  Henderson  [actor],  to 
Garrick;  Henry  the  Fourth,  King  of  France  [5  letters]; 
Henry  VIII.,  King  of  England;  Sir  Edward  Hyde,  Earl 
of  Clarendon  [historian],  to  Prince  Rupert;  Princesse 
de  Lamballe,  to  Louis  XVI;  Martin  Luther;  Marguer- 
ite de  Valois,  wife  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth,  of  France; 
Marie  Antoinette,  to  the  Princesse  de  Lamballe;  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots;  James  Graham,  Marquis  of  Montrose; 
Algernon  Percy,  Earl  of  Northumberland;  Hugh  Peters 
[fanatic  and  regicide];  Sir  Walter  Raleigh;  Nicholas 
Rowe  [dramatist];  Tobias  Smollett;  Thomas  Southerne; 
Emanuel  Swedenborg;  Dr.  Jonathan  Swift;  James 
Thomson  [poet];  Edmund  Waller;  Gen.  James  Wolfe; 
and  William  Wycherly  [dramatist]. 

In  April,  1876,  the  collection  of  Samuel  Addington, 
Esq.,  was  sold  by  auction.  He  appears  to  have  been  a 
collector  for  a  few  years  only.  The  fever  had  taken 
violent  possession  of  him  at  the  time  of  the  Young  and 


130  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Dillon  sales;  where,  having  ample  means  to  distance 
all  competitors,  he  bought  a  great  part  of  the  most 
costly  and  valuable  items  then  offered,  at  prices  that 
were  considered  very  high.  His  collection  was  small, 
but  very  choice.  It  consisted  of  396  numbers  only, 
most  of  them  containing  a  single  letter  or  document. 
To  name  the  most  valuable  of  its  component  parts 
would  be  nearly  to  repeat  very  many  of  the  names 
specified  in  the  accounts  of  the  Young  and  Dillon  col- 
lections. The  gross  proceeds  of  the  sale  were  £2151.8.6; 
prices  having  fallen  considerably  below  those  paid  by 
Mr.  Addington  in  1869. 

Mr.  Hazlitt,  in  "Four  Generations  of  a  Literary 
Family,"  speaks  of  him  as  "a  noted  and  conspicuous 
character  in  the  auction  rooms.  A  tall,  imposing  fig- 
ure, with  an  inclination  to  stoop,  illiterate,  but  having 
the  keenest  and  truest  instinct  for  what  was  worth 
having,  whether  prints,  miniatures,  books,  manuscripts, 
or  coins.  He  was  a  bachelor,  with  some  £15,000  a 
year.  He  was  perhaps  the  first  to  give  prices  totally 
beyond  record  and  example;  declining  to  be  beaten  by 
any  other  collector." 

The  Sensier  Collection. 

In  February,  1878,  the  collection  of  Mr.  Alfred 
Sensier  was  sold  at  auction  in  Paris.     He  was  born  in 


EUROPEAN  COLLECriONb;  131 

that  city  on  Dec.  25,  1815,  and  died  there  on  Jan.  7, 
1877.  In  1848  he  received  an  official  position  under 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  which  he  held  until  1872. 
The  great  painters  Theodore  Rousseau,  Jean  Francois 
Millet,  and  Narcisse  Diaz  were  his  intimate  personal 
friends.  He  commenced  his  collection  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  and  continued  to  add  to  it,  with  intelligence, 
taste  and  earnestness,  until  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  catalogue  is  a  4to  volume  of  117  pages,  with 
many  fac-similes,  prepared  by  Etienne  Charavay;  and 
includes  among  its  782  items  many  of  the  leading  names 
in  the  series  of  Heads  of  Government,  Statesmen, 
French  Revolution,  Warriors,  Savants,  Writers,  Ar- 
tists, Composers  of  Music,  and  Noted  Women.  The 
French  Revolution  series  was  particularly  fine. 

The  Collection  of  M.  Benjamin  Fillon. 

In  1878  the  remarkable  collection  of  M.  Benjamin 
Fillon  was  disposed  of  at  public  sale  in  Paris.  The 
catalogue  was  prepared  with  great  care  by  Etienne 
Charavay,  and  is  very  interesting  and  valuable  as  a 
book  of  reference,  inasmuch  as  it  gives,  in  addition  to 
the  notes  descriptive  of  the  autographs,  a  great  number 
of  fac-similes.  It  consists  of  three  4to  volumes,  con- 
taining, respectively,  239,  381,  and  200  pages;  and  de- 


132  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

scribes  2986  autographs,  all  of  which  are  choice,  while 
many  of  them  are  of  extreme  rarity.     It  may  be  inter- 
esting to  note  some  of  the  most  important  items,  with 
the  prices  at  which  they  sold. 
Savonarola,  Girolamo.     [1452-1498.]     A.  L.  S.  oblong 

4to.     Florence,  Oct.  28,  1495.     600  francs. 
Rabelais,  Francois.     L.  S.  43^  pp.  folio.     Rome,  Jan. 

28,  1536.     1000  francs. 
Bacon,    Francis.     [1560-1626].     A.    L.    S.    folio.    "Fr. 

Verulam,  Cane."     To  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham. 

Nov.  28,  1619.     500  francs. 
Galileo-Galilei.     [1564-1642.]     A.  L.   S.  folio.     March 

4,  1635.     Written  from  prison.     695  francs. 
Pascal,   Blaise.     [1623-1662.]    A.   L.   S.   2   pp.   folio. 

Jan.  1643.     1500  francs. 
Malebranche,  Nicolas.     [1638-1715.]     A.   L.   S.   2  pp. 

4to.     Paris,  Dec.  5,  1713.     125  francs. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac.     A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio.     Aug.  12,  1719. 

1500  francs. 
Louis  XI.     A.  L.  S.  oblong  4to.     To  Due  d'Orleans. 

500  francs. 
Catherine  de  Medicis.     A.  L.  S.  4  pp.  folio.     June  12, 

1569.     To  Charles  IX.     200  francs. 
Marie  Antoinette.     A.  L.  S.  small  4to.     Jan.  31,  1775. 

650  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  133 

Marguerite  de  Valois  [la  Marguerite  des  Marguerites]. 

A.  L.  S.  folio.     April  11,  1492.     100  francs. 
Henry  VIIL,  King  of  England.     A.  L.  S.  3^  p.  folio. 

To  Margaret  of  Austria.     1000  francs. 
Queen   Elizabeth.     A.    L.    S.    folio.     To    Catherine    de 

Medicis.     1500  francs. 
Cromwell^  Oliver.     A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio.     Dec.  7,  1657. 

To  Cardinal  Mazarin.     1105  francs. 
Marie  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scots.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     July  27, 

1568.     To  Catherine  de  Medicis.     450  francs. 
Charles  F.,  Emperor  of  Germany.     A.  L.  S.   13^2  PP- 

folio.     June  7,  1525.     To  Francis  I.,  of  France.     555 

francs. 
Philip  II. y  of  Spain.     A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio.     Dec.  16, 

1578.     To  Pope  Gregory  XIII.     85  francs. 
Richelieu,  Armand  Jean  Duplessis,  Cardinal.     A.  L.  S. 

4to.     Sept.  29,  1628.     To  Marie  de  Medicis.     1000 

francs. 
Vespucci,  Emerico.     [1451-1512.]     A.  L.  S.  oblong  4to. 

Florence,  Oct.  18,  1476.     To  his  father.     2600  francs. 
Hawkins,    Sir  John.     [English   navigator.]     A.    L.    S. 

folio.     Bedford,  July  11,  1581.     180  francs. 
Pico  Delia  Mirandola,  Giovanni.     [Philosopher.]     A.  L. 

S.     3  pp.  folio.     Ferrare,  May  15,  1492.     600  francs. 
Ronsard,  Pierre  de.     [Eminent  poet.     1524-1585.]     A. 

L.  S.  4to.     250  francs. 


134  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Francois   de    Sales,    Saint.     A.    L.    S.    folio.     Annecy, 

May  8,  1610.     145  francs. 
Balzac,  jean  Louis  Guez  de.     [1594-1655.]     A.  L.   S. 

2}/2  PP-  4to.     Rome,  Jan.  11,  1621.     250  francs. 
Scarron,   Paul.     [Comic  poet.]     A.   L.    S.   4to.     1660. 

200  francs. 
La  Fontaine,  Jean  de.     A.  L.  S.  IY2  pp.  4to.     Aug.  28, 

1692.     345  francs. 
Moliere,  Jean  Baptiste  Poquelin  de.     P.  S.  4to.     Paris, 

May  22,  1670.     300  francs. 
Racine,  Jean.     A.  L.  S.  1}^  pp.  4to.     May  16,  1692. 

295  francs. 
Le  Sage,  Alain  Rene.     [1668-1747.]     A.   L.   S.   2  pp. 

4to.     410  francs. 
Prevost  D'Exiles,  Fabbe.     [1697-1763.]     A.  L.  S.  4pp. 

4to.     460  francs. 
Chenier,  Andre  Marie  de.     A.  L.  S.  X'^  pp.  4to.     Lon- 
don, Nov.  24,  1789.     To  his  father.     700  francs. 
Ariosto,  Lodovico.    A.  L.  S.  folio.    Ferrare,  June  6,  1519. 

350  francs. 
Colonna,    Vittoria.     [1490-1547.]     A.    L.    S.    23^    pp. 

folio.      150  francs. 
Tasso,  Torquato.     [1544-1595.]     A.  L.  S.  2}^  pp.  folio. 

Ferrare,  June  21,  1575.     600  francs. 
Cervantes  Saavedra,  Miguel  de.     P.  A.  S.  [3  lines].      \]/2 

pp.  folio.     Feb.  4,  1593.     600  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COELECTIONS  135 

Vega-Carpio^  Felix  Lope  de.     [Spanish  dramatic  poet.] 

P.  A.  S.     8  pp.  small  4to.     399  francs. 
Erasmus  oj  Rotterdam.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     Fribourg,  Aug. 

22.     150  francs. 
Lecouvreur,  Adrienne.         [Tragic  actress.)     A.  L.  S.  4}/2 

pp.  4to.     Paris,  Jan.  10,  1730.     500  francs. 
Stella^  Jacques.     [Celebrated  painter.]     A.  L.  S.  folio. 

Rome,  Feb.  19,  1633.     100  francs. 
Fouet,  Simon.     [Celebrated  painter.]     A.  L.  S.  1}^  pp. 

folio.     May  21,  1621.     130  francs. 
Mansart,  Jules  Hardouin,   called.     [Architect.]     A.  L. 

S.  2  pp.  folio.     Clagny,  Sept.  19,  1677.     300  francs. 
Fanucciy     Pietro.     Called    Le    Perrugin.      [Celebrated 

painter.]     A.  L.  S.  folio.     Florence,  Aug.  16,  1504. 

650  francs. 
Buonarotti,  Michel  Angiolo.     [The  grand  painter.]     A. 

L.    S.    3/^   page  oblong  4to.     [Jan.   25,    1545.]     500 

francs. 

Titian,  Vicelli  Tiziano,  called.  A.  L.  S.  folio.  Rome, 
Dec.  8,  1545.  To  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  2000 
francs. 

Santi,  Raffaele.  P.  S.  3'^2  P-  4to,  with  two  lines  auto- 
graph.    Rome,  Jan.  1,  1515.     2000  francs. 

Pippi,  Giulio — called  Giulio  Romano.  A.  L.  S.  folio. 
April  30,  1541.     700  francs. 


136  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Cagliari,  Paolo — called  Paul  Veronese.     A.  L.  S.  folio. 

Venise,  March  2,  1578.     225  francs. 
Caracci,  Lodovico.     [1555-1619.]     A.  L.  S.  folio.     1616. 

102  francs. 

Cranachy    Lucas.     [Celebrated   painter   and   engraver. 
1472-1553.]     A.  L.  S.  8vo.     400  francs. 

Rubens,    Peter   Paul.     A.    L.    S.    small   folio.     Rome, 
April  28,  1607.     380  francs. 

Jordaens,  Jakob.     [1594-1678.]    A.  L.  S.  13^  pp.  folio. 
Anvers,  Nov.  8,  1651.     360  francs. 

Van  Dyck,  Anthony.     L.  S.  2  pp.  folio.     Paris,  Nov.  16, 

1641.     420  francs. 
Rembrandt.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     To  Constantin  Huygens. 

800  francs. 
Rameau,  Jean  Phil.     [Noted  composer.]     A.  L.  S.  4to. 

June  29,  1754.     305  francs. 

Lulliy  Giambattista.      [Composer.]      P.  A.  S.  [on   vel- 
lum] oblong  4to.     June  3,  1684.     70  francs. 

Cimarosa,    Domenico.     [Composer.]     A.    L.    S.    2    pp. 

folio.     April  30,  1793.     250  francs. 
Handel,  Georg  Friedrich.     A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  4to.     London, 

Feb.  20,  1719.     910  francs. 
Gluck,    Christoph    Willibald.     A.    L.    S.    2    pages    4to. 

Paris,  Nov.  16,  1777.     1135  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  137 

Beethoven,  Ludzvig  von.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to.     Relative 

to    one    of    his    compositions.     Baden,    1810.     227 

francs. 
Ignatius  de  Loyola.     [Founder  of  the  Jesuits.]     L.  S.  2 

pages  4to.     Rome,  Feb.  17,  1546.     3100  francs. 
Reuchlin,  Johann.     [Reformer.]     A.  L.  S.  folio.     May 

7,1518.     1000  francs. 
Luther,  Martin.     P.  A.  S.  folio  [on  vellum].     Nov.  24, 

1543.     1300  francs. 
Zivingli,  Ulrich.     [Reformer.]     A.  L.  S.  4to.     Aug.  10, 

1529.     1000  francs. 

The  Chambry  Collection. 

On  March  7,  1881,  there  was  sold,  in  Paris,  a  col- 
lection that  was  considered  one  of  the  most  notable  in 
France.  It  had  belonged  to  M.  Etienne  Pierre  Louis 
Chambry,  a  Chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  who  was 
born  Dec.  24,  1786,  and  died  Oct.  15,  1871.  He  com- 
menced his  collection  when  he  was  a  very  young  man, 
and  for  years  was  a  large  purchaser  at  all  the  sales  in 
Paris. 

The  catalogue  is  an  8vo  pamphlet  of  90  pages,  des- 
cribing 674  separate  items,  the  most  important  of  which 
is  an  A.  L.  S.  \}/2  pages  8vo  of  Pierre  Corneille,  the  il- 
lustrious   French    tragic    poet,    written    to    Pellisson. 


138  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

This  autograph — bought  by  M.  Chambry,  in  1856,  at 
the  Parison  sale — is  unique  in  private  collections. 

The  catalogue  was  compiled  by  Etienne  Charavay, 
who  closes  a  short  preface  by  calling  attention  to  the 
fact  that  he  had  excluded  from  the  sale  certain  letters 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  all  the  experts,  were  counter- 
feit. They  came  from  the  famous  genealogical  cabinet 
of  Letellier — the  prolific  source  of  so  many  forgeries — 
and  included  such  names  as  Charles  VII.,  Agnes  Sorel, 
the  Chevalier  Bayard,  Rabelais,  Diana  of  Poitiers, 
Bonnivet,  Raphael,  and  Michel-Angelo.  He  also 
excluded  letters  of  Jean  Racine,  Louis  XVI.,  and  Marie 
Antoinette;  the  geniuneness  of  which  was  doubted. 
The  sale  produced  54,900  francs. 
Among  the  gems  of  the  collection,  the  following 
autographs  may  be  specified: 
Amboise,  Georges,  Cardinal  d\     The  illustrious  Prime 

Minister  of  Louis  XII.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio.     160 

francs. 
Anne  de  Bretagne,   Queen  of  France.     A.   L.   S.   folio. 

205  francs. 
Anne  de  France.     Daughter  of  Louis  XL     Regent  of 

France  under  Charles  VIII.    A.  L.  S.  4to.    205  francs. 
Beauharnaisy  Josephine  de.     Empress   of   France.     A. 

L.  S.  3  pages  8vo.     To  Vadier.     Paris,  28  nivose  an 

II.     400  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  139 

Bichat,  Fr.  Xavier.     The  creator  of  modern  physiology. 

A.  L.  S.  23^  pages  4to.     205  francs. 
Boileau-Despreaux,   Nicolas.     The   great   satiric   poet. 

A.  L.  S.  4to.     Paris,  May  25,  1673.     200  francs. 
Bonaparte,  Charles  de.     Father  of  Napoleon  I.     A.  L. 

S.  [in  ItaHan]  1^  pages  4to.     Ajaccio,  Nov.  7,  1784. 

505  francs. 
Cadoudal,  Georges  de.     The  celebrated   Chouan  chief. 

A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to.     May  18,  1796.     200  francs. 
Charles  Fill.,  King  of  France.     L.  S.  folio,  with  3  lines 

autograph.     315  francs. 
Charles  IX.,  King  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  J^  page  folio. 

To  his  mother,  Catherine  de  Medicis.     150  francs. 
Chenier,  Andre  Marie  de.     The  celebrated  poet.     A.  L. 

S.   4   pages   4to.     To   the   King  of  Poland.     Paris, 

November  18,  1790.     1910  francs. 
Claude  de  France.     Queen  of  France.     Wife  of  Francis 

I.     L.  S.  3^  page  4to.     135  francs. 
Coligny,  Gaspard  de.     The  illustrious  admiral.     Assas- 
sinated.    A.  L.  S.  13^  pages  folio.     To  the  Queen  of 

Navarre.     July  2,  1569.     600  francs. 
Commynes,  Philippe  de.     Illustrious   historian.     L.  S. 

folio,  with  12  lines  autograph.     July  23,  1505.     To 

the  Queen.     220  francs. 
Corneille,  Thomas.     Celebrated  dramatic  poet.     A.  L. 

S.  3  pages  8vo.     Sept.  13,  1702.     600  francs. 


140  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Deshoulieres,  Antoinette  Ligier  de  la  Garde.     Celebrated 

poet.     [1638-1694.]    A.  L.  S.  23^  pages  8vo.     500 

francs. 
Fabert,  Abraham.     Illustrious  French  marshal.     A.  L. 

S.  2  pages  4to.     July  2,  1657.     To  Cardinal  Mazarin. 

75  francs. 
Fenelony  Francois  de  la  Mothe  Salignac.     Archbishop 

of  Cambray.     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to.     Cambrai,  May 

17,  1717.     300  francs. 
Francois  /.,  King  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  3^  page  4to. 

April  4,    1526.     To  the  Emperor   Charles  V.     100 

francs. 
Francois  II.,  King  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  }/^  page  folio. 

Sept.  10,  1552.     To  the  king,  his  father.     210  francs. 
Gluckf  Christophe.     The  great  composer.     A.  L.  S.  4to. 

April  1,1778.     5 10  francs, 
Guy  on,  Jeanne  Marie  Bouvier  de  la  MoUe.     Celebrated 

mystic.     Friend  of  Fenelon.     P.  A.  S.  134  pages  4to. 

April  15,  1695.     105  francs. 
Jeanne  d^Albret,  Queen  of  Navarre.     A.  L.  S.  %  page 

folio.     To  Monsieur. 
LaFayeUe,  Marie  Madeleine  Pioche  de  la  Vergne,  Com- 

tesse  de.     Celebrated   writer.     A.  L.   S.  4to.     Feb. 

13,  1662.     To  Arnauld  de  Pomponne.     85  francs. 
Lannes,  Jean.     Celebrated  French  marshal.     A.  L.  S. 

4to.     Oct.  14,  1806.     To  Napoleon  I.     150  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  141 

La  Rochefoucauld^  Francois  VL,  Due  de.  The  illus- 
trious author  of  the  "Maxims."  A.  L.  S.  13^  pages 
4to.     To  Madame  de  Scudery. 

La  Sablierej  Marguerite  Hessin  de.  The  celebrated 
friend  of  La  Fontaine.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to.  To 
Pere  Rapin.     1010  francs. 

La  Failure,  Duchesse  de.  Celebrated  mistress  of  Louis 
XIV.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  8vo.     245  francs. 

Lecouvreury  Adrienne.  The  great  tragic  actress.  Auto- 
graph letter  (unsigned),  1^  pages  4to.  Jan.  10, 
1730.     480  francs. 

Lesage,  Alain  Rene.  Author  of  "Gil  Bias."  A.  L.  S. 
S}/2  pages  4to.     Paris,  June  18,  1715.     920  francs. 

Louis  Xll.y  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  folio.  To  his 
daughter.     500  francs. 

Marat,  Jean  Paul.  French  revolutionist.  A.  L.  S. 
3J^  pages  folio.     Paris,  July  4,   1793.     325  francs. 

Marguerite  d'Angouleme,  Queen  of  Navarre.  Author 
of  the  "Heptameron."  A.  L.  S.  }^  page  folio.  To 
Charles  V.     205  francs. 

Marie  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scots.  A.  L.  S.  13^  pages  folio. 
Nov.  13,  1574.  To  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow. 
1005  francs. 

Massillon,  J.  B.,  Bishop  of  Clermont.  Celebrated  pul- 
pit orator.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio.  Feb.  16,  1723. 
300  francs. 


142  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Napoleon  /.,  Emperor  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  4to.  Ajac- 
cio,  June  12,  1792.     600  francs. 

Piccinni,  Nicolas.  Noted  composer.  A.  L.  S.  2^ 
pages  4to.     Oct.  22,  1782.     105  francs. 

Pompadour,  Jeanne  Antoinette  Poisson,  Marquise  de. 
A.  L.  S.  ^  page  8vo.  To  Malesherbes.  Oct.  18, 
1752.     155  francs. 

Prevost  d'Exiles,  Vabhe  Ant.  Fr.  Author  of  "Manon 
Lescaut."  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to.  Oct.  8,  1738. 
200  francs. 

Racan,  Honorat  de  Bueil,  Marquis  de.  Celebrated 
poet.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     Dec.  16,  1665.     500  francs. 

Rameau,  J.  Ph.     Celebrated  composer.     A.  L.  S.  34 

page  4to.     June  7,  1758.     500  francs. 
Ronsardj  Pierre  de.     Celebrated  poet.     A.  L.  S.  folio. 

395  francs. 
Saint  Amant,  Marc  Antoine  Gerard,  Sieur  de.     Poet. 

A.  L.  S.  2li  pages  folio.     April  1,  1648.     660  francs. 
Scarron,  Paul.     Noted  writer.     A.  L.  S.  \}/2  pages  4to. 

505  francs. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  Saint.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  2  pages.     Sept. 

20,  1642.     300  francs. 

Corneille,  Pierre.  The  great  tragic  poet.  A.  L.  S.  134 
pages  8vo.     To  Pellisson.     4000  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  143 

The  Bovet  Collection. 

One  of  the  best  collections  that  ever  fell  under  the 
hammer  of  the  auctioneer  was  that  of  Alfred  Bovet, 
which  was  sold  in  Paris  in  1887.  The  catalogue — 
prepared  by  Etienne  Charavay,  with  a  very  interest- 
ing preface — is  an  unusually  handsome  4to  volume 
of  880  pages,  with  hundreds  of  fac-similes.  It  enu- 
merates 2138  separate  items,  representing  the  leading 
names  in  most  of  the  principal  series.  M.  Bovet  com- 
menced the  formation  of  this  collection  in  the  year 
1869;  and  the  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  with  which 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  pursuit  of  his  hobby  are 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  nineteen  years  he  had  ac- 
quired this  splendid  aggregation  of  letters  and  docu- 
ments, many  of  which  had  previously  been  in  the  noted 
collections  of  Chambry,  Tremont,  Dubrunfaut,  Fillon, 
and  Sensier.  The  following  named  items  will  exemplify 
its  general  character. 

Charles   VI.,  King  of  France.     L.  S.  oblong  folio  [on 
vellum],  1368.     92  francs. 

Charles  VII.,  King  of  France.     L.  S.  oblong  4to.     56 
francs. 

Francis  /.,  King  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     To  the  Em- 
peror Charles  V.     255  francs. 


144  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Catharine  de  Medicis.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1583.     To  Mary, 

Queen  of  Scots.     610  francs. 
DesmoulinSy    Camille.     A.    L.    S.    4to,    1790.     To   his 

father.     100  francs. 
Dunois,  Jean  d^ Orleans,  Comte  de.     Called  "the  bastard 

of  Orleans."     [1402-1468.]    A.    L.    S.   oblong   4to. 

500  francs. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1793.     1000  francs. 
Sickingen,  Franz  von.     Noted  soldier  and  Protestant. 

Friend  of  Luther.    A.  L.  S.  folio,  1519.     720  francs. 
Wallenstein,  Albrecht  Wenzel  Eusehius  von.     The  great 

general  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War.     A.  L.  S.  folio, 

1619.     200  francs. 
Garcia  de  Paredes,  Don  Diego.     Noted  Spanish  general, 

surnamed   "the  Spanish  Bayard."     A.   L.   S.   folio, 

1512.     To  Ferdinand,  King  of  Spain.     495  francs. 
Galilei,  Galileo.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1601.     690  francs. 
Cook,   Capt,  James.     Explorer.     A.   L.   S.   4to,    1776. 

100  francs. 
Vancouver,    George.     Explorer.     A.    L.    S.    4to,    1797. 

110  francs. 
Ronsard,  Pierre  de.     Noted  poet.     [1524-1585.]     A.  L. 

S.  4to.     330  francs. 
Frangois  de  Sales,  Saint.     [1567-1622.]     A.  L.  S.  IJ/^ 

pp.  folio.     July  31,  1613.     To  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

260  francs. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  145 

Corneille,  Pierre.     D.  S.  folio.     1663.     1785  francs. 
Scarron,  Paul.     Poet.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1660.     300  francs. 
La   Fontaine,  Jean  cle.     [1621-1695.]     A.   D.   S.   4to. 

100  francs. 
Moliere,  Jean  Baptiste  Poquelin,  Called.     [1622-1673.] 

D.  S.  33^  pp.  folio,  1670.     2500  francs. 
Malebranche,  Nicolas.     [1638-1715.]     A.   L.   S.   4  pp. 

4to,  1714.     130  francs. 
Le  Sage,  Alain  Rene.     [1668-1747.]     A.  L.  S.  6  pp.  4to, 

1715.     1010  francs. 
Prevost  D'' Exiles,  Pabbe  Antoine  Frangois.     [1697-1763.] 

A.  L.  S.  3pp.  4to,  1735.     260  francs. 
Ckenier,  Andre  Marie  de.     Poet.     [1762-1794.]     A.  L. 

S.  11^  pp.  4to,  1789.     To  his  father.     810  francs. 
Reuchlin,  Johann.     Reformer.     A.   L.   S.   folio,    1518. 

1200  francs. 
Luther,   Martin.     A.    L.    S.    oblong   4to,    1526.     1000 

francs. 
Hutten,  Ulrich  von.     Friend  and  pupil  of  Luther.     A.  L. 

S.  folio,  1520.     1210  francs. 
Lessing,    Gotthold    Ephraim.     [1729-1781.]     A.    L.    S. 

3M  pp.  4to,  1767.     700  francs. 
Byron,  Lord.     The  English  poet.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1820. 

200  francs. 
Shelley,   Percy  B.     A.  L.   S.  23^  pp.  4to,    1820.     To 

Lord  Byron.     500  francs. 


146  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Erasmus,  Desiderius.     A.   L.   S.    13^2  PP-   folio,    1527. 

360  francs. 
Mignard,    Pierre.     Painter.     [1612-1695.]     A.    L.    S. 

2  pp.  folio,  1693.     235  francs. 
Greuze,  Jean  Baptiste.     Painter.     [1725-1805.]     A.  L. 

S.  4to,  1766.     250  francs. 
Duquesne,  Abraham.     Illustrious  naval  officer.     [1610- 

1688.]     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1661.     80  francs. 
Lenclos,  Ninon  de.    Celebrated  courtesan.    [1620-1705.] 

A.  L.  S.  23^  pp.  8vo.     300  francs. 
La  Falliere,  Madame  de.     Mistress  of  Louis  XIV.     A. 

L.  S.  2J^  pp.  8vo.     330  francs. 
Pompadour,  Marquise  de.     Mistress  of  Louis  XV.     A. 

L.  S.  8vo.     300  francs. 
Corday,  Charlotte.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1789.     400  francs. 

The  Collection  of  Count  Paar. 

The  collection  of  Ludwig,  Count  Paar,  which  was 
sold  in  Berlin  in  March,  1893,  was  said,  at  the  time, 
to  be  of  such  a  character  that  its  equal  would  not  be 
seen  at  auction  for  many  years  to  come.  This  was  the 
opinion  generally  expressed  by  the  dealers;  and  the 
prices  that  were  realized  for  the  more  important  items, 
though  then  thought  to  be  extremely  high,  would 
probably  be  considered  quite  reasonable  to-day. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  147 

The  catalogue  is  a  pamphlet  of  255  pages,  with 
many  facsimiles,  enumerating  2074  items,  embracing 
the  series  of  Royalty,  Warriors,  Statesmen,  the  Re- 
formation, Scientists,  Poets  and  Prose-writers,  Com- 
posers of  music.  Painters  and  Sculptors,  Celebrated 
Women,  Popes,  and  Saints.  Some  of  these  series — 
as,  for  instance,  those  of  the  Reformation  and  the  Thirty 
Years'  War — were  particularly  fine.  The  following 
names  are  worthy  of  special  mention. 
Christian  IL  [King  of  Denmark.     "The  Nero  of  the 

North"].     L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  1525.     50  marks. 
Bianca  Capello  [wife  of  Francesco  de  Medici.     Cele- 
brated for  her  beauty  and  her  adventures].     L.   S. 

4to,  1584.     56  marks. 
Peter  the  Great  [Sovereign  of  Russia].    A.  L.  S.  4to,  1720. 

400  marks. 
Philip  IL  [King  of  Spain].     A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  1593. 

To  Pope  Clement  VIII.     200  marks. 
Wallenstein,  Alhrecht,   Graf  von   [the  great  general  of 

the  Thirty  Years'  W^ar].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1619.     300 

marks. 
Gotz  von  Berlichingen  [1480-1562.     Celebrated  German 

soldier].     A.  L.  S.  oblong  4to.     235  marks. 
Hoferj  Andreas  [Tyrolese  patriot].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1809. 

143  marks. 


148  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Sickingen,  Franz  von  [celebrated  German  soldier  and 

Protestant    reformer].     A.    L.    S.    folio,    1520.     415 

marks. 
Borgia,  CcBsar  [son  of  Pope  Alexander  VI .  and  brother 

of  Lucretia  Borgia].     D.  S.  oblong  folio,  1503.     150 

marks. 
Doria,  Andrea  [Illustrious  Genoese  admiral].     A.  L.  S. 

folio,  1545.     86  marks. 
Robespierre,  Maximilien  [French  Revolution].     A.  L.  S. 

4  pp.  4to,  1790.     291  marks. 
Washington,  George.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1799.     130  marks. 
Calvin,  Jean  [Reformer].     A.  L.  S.  2^/z  pp.  folio,  1545. 

365  marks. 
Erasmus,  Desiderius.     A.  L.  S.  3  pp.  folio,  1528.     555 

marks. 
Hutten,   Ulrich  von  [German  poet  and  Protestant  re- 
former.    1488-1523].     A.  L.  S.  4to.     590  marks. 
Luther,  Martin.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1519.     650  marks. 
Melancthon,  Philipp  [Luther's  friend].     A.  L.  S.  3  pp. 

folio,  1552.     150  marks. 
Peutinger,  Conrad  [Protestant  reformer].     A.  L.  S.  3  pp. 

folio,  1522.     410  marks. 
Pirkheimer,  Wilibald  [Protestant  reformer].     A.  L.  S. 

folio,  1519.     335  marks. 
Reuchlin,  Johann  [Protestant  reformer].     A.  L.  S.  folio, 

1518.     580  marks. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  149 

Zwingli,  Ulricli  [Protestant  reformer].  A.  L.  S.  folio, 
1524.     630  marks. 

Kepler^  Johannes  [Astronomer].  A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio, 
1613.     350  marks. 

Mercator,  Gerard  Kaufmann,  called  [the  great  Geogra- 
pher].    A.  L.  S.  folio,  1577.     402  marks. 

Spinoza,  Benedict  [1632-1677.  Philosopher].  A.  L.  S. 
2  pp.  4to,  1675.     1100  marks. 

Frank,  Sebastian  [1500-1545.  German  prose-writer]. 
A.  L.  S.  2  pp.  folio,  1533.     152  marks. 

Aretino,  Pieiro  [poet].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1553.     850  marks. 

Mendoza,  Don  Inigo  Lopez  de  [Spanish  poet].  D.  S. 
folio,  on  vellum,  1452.     205  marks. 

Mozart,  Wolfgang  Amadeus  [the  great  Composer].  A. 
L.  S.  2  pp.  4to,  1781.     420  marks. 

Buonarotti,  Michel  Angiolo,  called  Michel- Angelo. 
A.  D.  S.  of  3  lines,  on  the  back  of  a  document  signed 
by  Pope  Leo  X.     3  pp.  folio,  1518.     1850  marks. 

Durer,  Albrecht  [the  great  Painter].  Autograph  docu- 
ment, 16  lines,  oblong  folio,  1518.     585  marks. 

Pippi,  Giulio — called  Giulio  Romano  [1492-1546. 
Painter].     A.  L.  S.  VA  pp.  folio,  1541.     500  marks. 

Titian  [the  illustrious  Painter].  A.  L.  S.  folio,  1548. 
To  King  Ferdinand  I.     1825  marks. 

Lucretia  Borgia  [One  of  the  great  celebrities  of  Italian 
history].     A.  L.  S.  folio.     1800  marks. 


150  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Coionna,    Vittoria — Marchesa    di   Pescara    [1490-1547. 

Noted  for  her  intellect,  beauty  and  virtues].     A.  L. 

S.  2  pp.  folio.     505  marks. 
Marguerite  de   Valois  [Queen  of  Navarre.     Author  of 

the  "Heptameron"].     A.  L.  S.  folio.     1050  marks. 
Leo  X.  [Pope].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1492.     75  marks. 
SaleSj  Saint  Francis  de  [1567-1622].     A.  D.  S.  folio, 

1614.     40  marks. 

Collection  of  Alexander  Meyer  Cohn. 

Among  the  private  collections  of  autographs 
formed  in  Germany  during  the  latter  half  of  the  19th 
century,  that  of  Alexander  Meyer  Cohn  held  first  rank. 
He  was  a  resident  of  Berlin,  born  in  1853,  and  was  a 
most  energetic  and  intelligent  collector.  When  he 
died,  in  1904,  he  left,  as  part  of  his  worldly  possessions, 
a  truly  magnificent  gathering  of  autographs.  It  was 
offered  for  sale  at  auction,  in  Berlin,  in  two  parts;  the 
first  on  Oct.  23-28,  1905,  and  the  second  on  Feb.  5-10, 
1906.  The  catalogues  are  two  4to  volumes  which, 
together,  contain  316  pages,  enumerating  3437  items, 
with  very  many  facsimiles.  The  entire  sale,  including 
an  important  lot  of  modern  political  documents  which 
were  sold  to  the  German  government,  realized  a  total 
of  more  than  300,000  marks. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  151 

From  this  wealth  of  material  the  following  names 
are  selected,  as  being  of  unusual  occurrence  or  of  special 
note. 
Friedrich   F.,  King  of  Bohemia  ["The  Winter  King"]. 

A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio,  1618.     295  marks. 
Friedrich  Wilhelm.    The  great  Elector  of  Brandenburg. 

A.  L.  S.  folio,  1671.     560  marks. 
Catharine  of  Aragon.     Queen  of  Henry  VIII.     L.   S. 

folio,  1531.     1150  marks. 
Edward   VL,  King  of  England.     D.   S.,    1548.     1150 

marks. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte.     A.  L.  S.   13^  pages  folio,  1796. 

2510  marks. 
William  of  Nassau,   Prince  of  Orange.     [Called   "the 

Silent."]     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  folio,  1561.     To  Count 

Egmont.     405  marks. 
Catherine  IL,  Empress  of  Russia.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1760. 

400  marks. 
Desmoulins,    Camille.     A.    L.    S.   4to.     An.   III.     411 

marks. 
Brant,  Sebastian  [Writer].     A.  L.  S.  folio,   1505.     440 

marks. 
Luther,  Martin.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1525.     1400  marks. 
Goethe,  Johann  W.  von.     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to,  1780. 

801  marks. 


152  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Grillparzer,  Franz.     Dramatist.     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to, 

1819.     551  marks. 
Kantf  Immanuel.     Philosopher.     A.   L.   S.  4to,   1770. 

335  marks. 
Kleist,  Heinrich  von.     Poet.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1810.     490 

marks. 
Mendelssohn^  Moses.     Philosopher.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1779. 

255  marks. 
Danneker,  Johann  Heinrich  von.     Sculptor.     A.  L.  S. 

4to,  1797.     715  marks. 
Chenier,  Andre  Marie  de.     Poet.     A.   L.   S.  4to,  1789. 

780  marks. 
La  Fontaine,  Jean  de.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  8vo,  1656.     600 

marks. 

Le  Sage,  Alain  Rene  [1668-1747].  A.  L.  S.  6  pages  4to, 
1715.     955  marks. 

Spinoza,  Benedict  de  [1632-1677].  Eminent  philos- 
opher.    A.  L.  S.  4to,  1675.     1175  marks. 

Calderon  de  la  Barca,  Don  Pedro.  Eminent  Spanish 
poet.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1635.     1410  marks. 

Cranach,  Lucas.  Eminent  painter.  A.  L.  S.  folio, 
1538.     810  marks. 

Jordaens,  Jakob.  Painter.  A.  L.  S.  folio,  1649.  1150 
marks. 

Rembrandt.  The  great  painter.  A.  L.  S.  folio,  1639. 
7000  marks. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  153 

Rubens,  Peter  PauL     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1627.     1500 

marks. 
RaphaeL     The  illustrious  painter.     A.  D.  S.  [2  lines] 

folio,  1514.     1000  marks. 

Titian,     The  great  painter.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1548.     1910 
marks. 

Gluck,  Christoph  Willibald.     Composer  of  music.     A.  L. 

S.  3  pages  folio,  1769.     4000  marks. 
Lasso,  Orlando  [1532-1594].     Composer  of  music.     A. 

L.  S.  3  pages  folio.     2050  marks. 
Mozart,  Wolfgang  Amadeus.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1788.     1105 

marks. 

Geibel  and  Herz  Collections 
In  1911,  the  collections  of  Dr.  Carl  Geibel,  of  Leip- 
zig, and  Carl  Herz  v.  Hertenried,  of  Vienna,  were  sold 
at  auction  in  Leipzig.  They  were  remarkable  chiefly 
for  letters  of  men  noted  in  connection  with  the  Refor- 
mation, and  of  some  of  the  great  painters  and  com- 
posers of  music.  The  following  names  may  be  men- 
tioned as  among  those  that  commanded  the  highest 
prices : 

Berlichingen,  G5tz  von  [1480-1562].     A.  L.  S.  4to.     580 
marks. 

Eck,  Johann  Maier  [1486-1543].     A.  L.  S.  folio.     720 
marks. 


154  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Erasmus,  Desiderius  [1467-1536].  A.  L.  S.  folio.  810 
marks. 

Luther,  Martin.  A.  L.  S.  43/2  pages  folio.  102,000 
marks. 

[Note. — This  letter  was  bought  for  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  the  New  York 
banker,  who  presented  it  to  the  German  Kaiser.  It  was  written  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  defending  the  position  he  [Luther]  had  taken  at  the  Diet  of  Worms. 
Its  contents  were  such  that  no  one  dared  to  deliver  it  to  the  Emperor.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  such  an  enormous  price  was  never  before  paid  for  any  autograph.] 

Bora,  Katharma  von  [Luther's  wife].  A.  L.  S.  13^2 
pages  folio,  1546.  Written  to  her  sister.  6000 
marks. 

Sicktngen,  Franz  von  [1481-1523].  A.  L.  S.  23^^  pages 
folio,  1521.     560  marks. 

Zwingli,  Ulrich.     A.  L.  S.  33^2  pages  folio,  1528.     3200 

marks. 
Rubens,  Peter  Paul  [Painter].     A.  L.  S.  23/0  pages  folio, 

1628.     1520  marks. 
Rafaele  Santi  [1483-1520].     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1514.     1560 

marks. 
Mozart,  Wollgang  Amadeus.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1789. 

1505  marks. 

The  Huth  Collection. 

The  small  collection  formed  by  Mr.  Henry  Huth, 
and  sold  in  London  on  June  12  and  13,  1911,  realized 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  155 

prices  so  far  in  excess  of  any  that  had  been  previously- 
obtained,  or  that  were  believed  to  be  warranted  by 
the  rarity  of  the  pieces,  as  to  be  truly  astonishing. 

Mr.  W.  Carew  Hazlitt,  in  his  "Four  Generations 
of  a  Literary  Family,"  says: — "Henry  Huth  was  a 
gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  linguist — affable,  kind  and 
unostentatious.  He  was  born  in  1815,  and  succeeded 
his  father,  Frederick  Huth,  in  the  firm  of  F.  Huth  & 
Co.,  carrying  on  a  very  extensive  and  profitable  mer- 
cantile business.  A  great  book  collector,  possessing  a 
fair  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  books,  and  a  master 
of  several  languages,  he  accumulated,  in  the  course  of 
many  years,  an  exceedingly  valuable  library,  largely 
from  the  Daniel  and  Corser  sales.  His  wealth,  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  prices  were  vastly  lower  in  the  1860s. 
and  70s.  than  they  now  are,  enabled  him  to  do  this. 
He  died  in  December,  1878,  from  the  effects  of  a  fall 
in  his  own  home,  which  fractured  his  skull.  His 
library  and  manuscript  letters  and  documents  passed 
into  the  hands  of  his  son,  who  made  numerous  addi- 
tions to  them." 

The  catalogue  of  the  collection  is  a  pamphlet  of 
43  pages,  with  many  facsimiles,  and  describes  246 
separate  items,  which  produced  the  remarkable  total 
of  £13166.  An  article  in  the  London  "Times,"  com- 
menting on   the  sale,   makes   the  statement  that  the 


156  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

whole  collection  cost  very  little  over  £2000  between 

the  years  1862  and  1880;  and  gives,  in  many  instances, 

the  particular  prices  paid  by  Mr.  Huth. 

The  following  names  will  exemplify  the  general 

character  of  the  collection,   and  will   show  the   vast 

difference  between  the  prices  paid,  and  those  received, 

for  some  of  the  principal  letters. 

Burns,  Robert.     Autograph  manuscript  of  the  famous 
cantata  of  "The  Jolly  Beggars,"  3  pages  folio.     £490. 

Dejoe,   Daniel.     A.   L.  S.    1    page  4to,   1704.     Signed 
"D.  F."    £295. 

Dryden,  John.     (Poet.)     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1698.     £200. 

Edward  IV.   [King  of  England]  and   his   brother  Ed- 
mund.    Letter  on  paper,  in  Latin,  signed  by  both, 
1  page  oblong  folio.     London,  Dec.  10,  1460.     £130. 
[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £16.15  at  the  Addington  sale.] 

Elizabeth  [Queen  of  England].     A.  L.  S.,  3  pages  folio. 
To  Henry  IV.,  of  France.     £365. 

Galileo  [the  great  astronomer].     A.   L.   S.    13^  pages 
folio,  1635.     £116. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver.     A.   L.   S.   2^2  pages  4to.     To   Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds.     £280. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £17.17  at  the  Dillon  sale.] 

Katherine  of  A rr agon  [Queen  of  Henry  VIII.].     A.  L.  S. 
3  pages  folio,  Buckden,  Feb.  8,  1534.     To  the  Em- 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  157 

peror   Charles   V.,   on    the   subject   of   her   divorce. 
£800. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £26  at  Puttick  &  Simpson's,  in 
1862.] 
Katherine  Parr  [Queen  of  Henry  VIII. |.     L.  S.  1  page 
oblong  folio.     £175. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £27  at  Puttick  &  Simpson's  In 
1862.] 
Keats,  John  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  33^  pages  4to,  1818.     To 
his  publisher,  relating  to  the  proof  sheets  of  "Endy- 
mion."     £450. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £27.] 
Lavib,  Charles.     Autograph  manuscript  of  his  Essay 
"Grace    before    Meat."     6)^    pages    folio,    signed 
"Ella."     £455. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £5.2.6.] 
Luther,  Martin.     A.  L.  S.  1}4  pages  folio,  1525.     To 
John,  Duke  of  Saxony.     £495. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £14  at  the  Addlngton  sale.] 
Mary  Tudor  [Queen  of  England].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1557. 
To  the  Emperor  Charles  V.     £420. 
[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £81]. 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1586.     Written 
to  the  French  Ambassador  while  she  was  in  captivity 
at  Chartley.     £1025. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  2  guineas  at  Puttick  &  Simpson's 
in  1862.] 


158  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter.  A.  L.  S.  folio.  Written  from  the 
Tower  to  Sir  Walter  Cope,  begging  that  his  wife 
might  be  allowed  to  share  his  captivity.     £520. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £84  at  the  sale  of  the  Young  col- 
lection in  1869.] 

Shelley,  Percy  B.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1821.  To 
Joseph  Severn,  on  John  Keats  and  "Adonais." 
£770. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £6.12.] 

Washington,  George.  A.  L.  S.  33^  pages  4to,  1788.  To 
Sir  Edward  Newenham.     £71. 

[Cost  Mr.  Huth  £9.15  at  the  Addington  sale.] 


CHAFFER  X 

The  Collection  Formed  by  Alfred  Morrison." 

IN  previous  chapters  mention  has  been  made  of  a 
number  of  the  leading  European  collections  which, 
in  successive  decades  since  1846,  have  gone  to 
public  sale.  While  it  might  be  interesting  to  give 
a  similar  detailed  notice  of  other  great  collections,  it 
is  not  possible  to  do  so  within  the  limits  assigned  to 
the  present  book.  There  is,  however,  one  collection — 
part  of  which  has  lately  been  sold  at  auction,  where 
the  remaining  and  larger  part  is  shortly  to  be  sold — 
that  far  exceeds  in  importance  and  value  any  other  of 
which  we  have  knowledge.  It  is  that  of  Alfred  Morri- 
son, a  London  merchant  of  great  wealth,  who  was  born 
in  1821  and  died  in  1897.  The  "Dictionary  of  National 
Biography"  contains  a  notice  of  him.  After  speaking 
of  what  he  had  accomplished  as  "a  devoted  and  dis- 


160  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

criminating  collector,"  it  goes  on  to  say: — "The  chief 
occupation  of  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life  was  the 
accumulation  of  an  extraordinary  collection  of  auto- 
graphs and  letters,  perhaps  never  rivalled  by  any 
private  person,  no  less  remarkable  for  its  extent  than 
for  its  completeness  and  historical  and  literary  interest. 
It  contains  every  kind  of  epistolary  document  dealing 
with  politics,  administration,  art,  science,  and  litera- 
ture, ranging  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  nineteenth 
centuries,  and  especially  relating  to  the  public  and 
private  life  of  monarchs,  statesmen,  and  other  persons 
of  mark  of  all  European  countries,  particularly  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  Italy.  Many  of  the  manuscripts 
are  of  great  importance.  The  correspondence  between 
Nelson  and  Lady  Hamilton  was  for  the  first  time  fully 
printed  in  his  catalogue.  The  papers  of  Sir  Richard 
Bulstrode,  who  died  in  1711  at  the  age  of  101,  contain 
his  news-letters,  which  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  com- 
panion to,  and  a  continuation  of,  Pepys's  'Diary.'  .  .  . 
He  was  a  man  of  fastidious  taste,  of  retiring  disposition, 
and  of  wide  information  on  the  subjects  in  which  he 
was  interested." 

He  printed  for  private  distribution  six  sumptuous 
volumes,  large  4to,  with  numerous  facsimiles,  in  which 
a  large  part  of  his  chief  treasures  are  described;  and, 
in  addition,  seven  volumes,  large  8vo.     To  say  of  these 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  U,l 

treasures  that  they  are  truly  wonderful,  and  that  they 
never  could  have  been  acquired  by  any  one  who  did 
not  couple  persistent  endeavor  with  the  possession  of 
immense  wealth,  is  to  speak  entirely  within  bounds. 
If  a  great  rarity  appeared  for  sale  anywhere  in  Europe, 
his  order  was  to  buy  it,  irrespective  of  price.  And 
so  there  are  here  gathered  together  the  gems  of  all  the 
principal  collections  that  have  been  dispersed  since 
the  year  1865.  No  great  name  that  was  obtainable  is 
absent  from  this  goodly  company;  many  names  of  first 
importance  are  represented  by  from  two  to  ninety 
letters,  instead  of  the  single  letter  or  document  with 
which  most  collectors  would  be  fully  satisfied;  and 
here  and  there  we  find  a  specimen  that  is  unique  in 
private  hands.  Add  to  all  this  the  fact  that  the  con- 
tents of  very  many  of  the  letters  are  of  historical  im- 
portance; and  we  shall  not  hesitate  to  admit  that  this 
collection  combines  all  the  elements  that  contribute  to 
make  it  one  of  surpassing  excellence.  It  was  left  by 
Mr.  Morrison  to  his  wife,  still  living;  by  whose  order  it 
is  to  be  dispersed. 

The  first  portion  of  the  collection  is  described  in  a 
catalogue  of  119  pages,  embracing  771  items,  issued  by 
Sotheby,  Wilkinson  &  Hodge,  the  auctioneers.  The 
sale  took  place  on  Monday,  Dec.  10,  1917,  and  the  four 
following  days,  and  produced  the  sum  of  £12606.2.0. 


162  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  catalogue  of  the  second  portion — sold  on 
Monday,  April  15,  1918,  and  the  four  following  days — 
is  a  pamphlet  of  169  pages,  naming  997  items,  which 
produced  a  total  of  £15009.14.0. 

The  larger  part  of  the  collection  remains  for  sale 
hereafter.     The  prices  realized  for  a  few  of  the  rarest 
and  most  valuable  autographs  disposed  of  at  the  two 
sales  named  will  now  be  stated. 
Almagro,    Don   Diego   de.     Accompanied  Pizarro  and 

Cortez   to   America.     Conquered    Chili.     A.    L.    S. 

2  pages  folio.     Peru,  Jan.  1,  1535.     To  the  Emperor 

Charles  V.     £76. 
Alvdy  Fernando,  Duke  of.     The  cruel  Spanish  general. 

A.  L.  S.  4  pages  folio.     1567.     £31. 
Ariosto,  Lodovico.     The  great  Italian  poet.     A.  L.  S. 

folio.     Ferrara,  June  6,  1519.     £45. 
Artaignan,   Comte  d\     The  original  of  Dumas'   hero. 

A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to.     Dec.  24,  1658.     To  Cardinal 

Mazarin.     £23. 
Borgia,  Lucrezia.     L.  S.  folio.     Rome,  Nov.  20,  1501. 

£64. 
Browne,  Sir  Thofnas.     Physician  and  author.     A.  L.  S. 

folio.     Jan.  21,  1659.     To  John  Evelyn.     £45. 
Buckingham,   George    Villiers,   1st  Duke  of.     A.   L.   S. 

folio.     1626.     To  Cardinal  Richelieu.     £31. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  163 

Buonarottiy  Michel  Angela.     A.  L.  S.  oblong  4to.     1545. 

£36. 
Cagliari,    Paolo.     Called    Paolo    Veronese.     A.  L.    S. 

folio.     Dec.  20,  1577.     £31. 
Castiglione,  Baldassare.     Friend  of  Raphael.     A.  L.  S. 

3  pages  folio.     Rome,  1521.     £28. 
Catesby,  Robert.     The  chief  contriver  of  the  Gunpowder 

Plot.     A.  L.  S.  34  page  folio.     £26. 
Cervantes  de  Saavedra,  Miguel.     Author  of  Don  Quixote. 

D.  S.  V/z  pages  folio,  Feb.  4,  1593.     £270. 
Charles  I.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     May  29,  1630.     To  Marie 

de   Medicis.     Announcing   the   birth   of   the   future 

Charles  IT.     £98. 
Charles  I.     A.  L.  S.  1}^  pages  folio.     Cardiff,  July  31, 

1645.     To    the    Marquis    of    Ormond.     Extremely 

important.     £160. 
Colon,  Don  Diego.     Eldest  son  of  the  great  Columbus. 

D.   S.   5   pages  folio.     To  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 

Historically  important.     £106. 
Cook,   James.     Celebrated   navigator.     A.    L.    S.   4to. 

1776.     £36. 
Corneille,  Pierre.     The  great  French  poet.     A.   L.   S. 

l}/2  pages  8  vo.     £135. 
Cromwell,  Oliver.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio.     July  5,  1644. 

Important.     £300. 


164  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Defoe^  Daniel.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to.     Signed  with  ini- 
tials.    Edinburgh,  Nov.  2,  1706.     £155. 
Diane  de  Poitiers.     Mistress  of  Henri   II.     A.   L.   S. 

folio.     £46. 
Edward  IV.     King  of  England.     D.   S.   folio.     1475. 

£32. 
Elizabeth.     Queen  of  England.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio. 

To  King  Henri  IV.     £150. 
Erasmus,  Desiderius.     A.  L.  S.  434  pages  folio.     May 

14,  1533.     To  Viglius  Zuichen.     £64. 
Francis  I.     A.  L.  S.  folio.     1531.     £21. 
Galilei,   Galileo.     The  great  astronomer.     A.   L.   S.   3 

pages  folio.     June,  1627.     £66. 
Gzvynn,  Eleanor.     Mistress  of  Charles  II.     D.  S.  folio, 

1684.     £27.10. 
Hawkins,  Sir  John.     Naval  commander.     L.  S.  folio, 

1581.     £23. 
Henry  VII.     King  of  England.     L.  S.  folio,  1498.     To 

the  Duke  of  Milan.     £28. 
Henry   VIII.     King  of  England.     A.   L.   S.   Y2  page 

folio.     In  French.     To  Margaret  of  Austria.     £80. 
Jordaens,  Jakob.     Flemish  painter.     A.  L.  S.  IJ^  pages 

folio.     Antwerp,    1651.     To    Constantin    Huygens. 

£28. 
Knox,  John.     Scottish  reformer.     A.   L.   S.   in  Latin. 

Edinburgh,  Oct.  24,  1561.     To  Calvin.     £220. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  165 

Las  Casas,  Fray  Bariolome  de.  Bishop  of  Chiapa.  Ac- 
companied Columbus  on  his  first  voyage.  A.  L. 
(unsigned)  3  pages  folio.     1520.     £145. 

Le  Sage,  Alain  Rene.  Author  of  Gil  Bias.  A.  L.  S.  2 
pages  4to.     £59. 

Luther,  Martin.  A.  D.  S.  folio.  On  vellum.  A  hom- 
ily on  the  28th  verse  of  the  11th  chapter  of  St.  Luke. 
£155. 

Malherhe,  Francois  de.  French  poet.  A.  L.  S.  2  pages 
folio.     1606.     £16. 

Marie  Antoinette.  Queen  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  8vo. 
1791.     To  the  Princesse  de  Lamballe.     £78. 

Burns,  Robert.  Scottish  poet.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio. 
Dec.  13,  1789.  To  Miss  Dunlop.  An  extraordinary 
letter.     £220. 

Mary  Stuart.  Queen  of  Scotland.  A.  L.  S.  l}/2  pages 
folio.     Sheffield,  Dec.  3,  1581.     To  Henri  III.     £360. 

Melancthon,  Philip.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio.  Witten- 
berg, March  3,  1554.  To  Duke  Augustus  of  Saxony. 
£28. 

Mozart,  Wolfgang  Amadeus.  Composer.  A.  L.  S.  4 
pages  4to.     1787.     Interesting.     £50. 

Napoleon  /.  A.  L.  S.  3^  page  4to.  Paris,  Sept.  6, 
1800.     To  Louis  XVIII.     £435. 

Napoleon  I.     A.  L.  S.  8vo.     To  Josephine.     £150. 


166  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Orange,  William  the  Silent,  Prince  of.     A.  L.  S.  folio. 

1573.     £30. 
Rabelais,  Francois.     French  wit  and  satirist.     A.  L.  S. 

4J^  pages  folio.     Rome,  Jan.  28,  1537.     £270. 
Racine,  Jean.     Tragic  poet.     A.  L.  S.  63^2  pages  4to. 

April  3,  1691.     To  Boileau.     £54. 
Rembrandt  van  Rijn.     Famous  Dutch  painter.     A.  L. 

S.  13^2  pages  folio.     Jan.  27,  1639.     To  Constantino 

Huygens.     £180. 
Richard  III.     King  of   England.     D.    S.    on   vellum. 

June  10,  1484.     A  treaty  with  the  Duke  of  Brittany. 

£64. 
Robespierre,  Maximilien.     A.  L.   S.  4to.     Paris,  Feb. 

15,  1793.     To  Danton.     £64. 
Rubens,  Sir  P.  P.     Great  Flemish  painter.     A.  L.  S. 

3   pages  folio.     Antwerp,    Feb.   25,   1628.     To  M. 

Dupuy.     £31. 
Saint  Albans,  Francis  Bacon,   Viscotint.     A.  L.   S.   J^ 

page  folio.     July  13,  1609.     £54. 
Scarron,  Paul.     Comic  poet.     A.  L.  S.  IJ^  pages  4to. 

To  Pelisson.     £17.10. 
Siddons,  Sarah.     Famous  actress.     A.  L.  S.  7  pages  4to. 

Leeds,  July  5,  1807.     To  James  Ballantyne.     £16.5.0. 
Sterne,    Laurence.     A.    L.    S.    4to.     March    12,    1763. 

Respecting  the  sale  of  "Tristram  Shandy."     £21. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  167 

Swijt,  Jonathan.  Noted  English  author.  A.  L.  S.  3 
pages  4to.  Nov.  10,  1709.  To  Lady  (jifford.  In- 
teresting.    £35. 

TassOy  Torquato.  Celebrated  Italian  poet.  A.  L.  S.  3 
pages  folio.     Ferrara,  June  21,  1575.     £43. 

Fecelli,  Tiziano.  Called  Titian.  Famous  painter.  A. 
L.  S.  folio.  Rome,  Dec.  8,  1545.  To  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.     £76. 

Vespucci,  Emerico.  The  Florentine  navigator  who 
gave  his  name  to  America.  A.  L.  S.  (in  Latin),  Oct. 
18,  1476.  1  page  oblong  4to.  On  vellum.  [One 
of  the  two  known  specimens  of  his  handwriting.] 
£390. 

Fifici,  Leonardo  da.  Celebrated  Italian  painter.  Two 
pen  and  ink  sketches  of  machines,  with  autograph 
descriptions.     1  page  folio.     £110. 

Washington,  George.  A.  L.  S.  3}^  pages  4to.  Sept. 
12,  1758.  To  Miss  Fairfax.  About  his  love  for 
Mrs.  Custis.     £152. 

Wolfe,  Gen.  James.  A.  L.  S.  (initials).  3}^  pages 
folio.  Louisburg,  May  19,  1759.  To  his  uncle. 
Major  Walter  Wolfe.  Giving  particulars  of  his 
position  before  the  attack  on  Quebec.     £62. 

Bonaparte,  Letizia.  Another  of  Napoleon.  A.  L.  S.  ^'o 
page  4to.  [March  23,  1801.]  To  her  son  Lucien. 
£21. 


168  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Burns,  Robert.     A.  L.  S.  6  pages  4to.     Feb.  28,  1791. 

To  Dr.  John  Moore.     Enclosing  a  ballad  of  22  lines 

on  Queen  Mary.     £200. 
Byron,  Lord.     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to.     June  25,  1809. 

To  Rev.  Francis  Hodgson.     Interesting.     £32. 
Byron,  Lord.     Autograph  verses,  3  pages  4to.     Com- 
prising 13  stanzas,  of  4  lines  each,  dated  March  18, 

1816,  of  his  famous  poem 

Fare  thee  well !  and,  if  for  ever. 
Still,  for  ever,  fare  thee  well.         £320. 
Catherine  de  Medicis.     Queen  of  France.     A.  L.  S.  % 

page   folio.     Dec.    20,    1583.     To  Mary,   Queen   of 

Scots.     £300. 

Cellini,  Benvenuto.  Celebrated  Italian  Goldsmith.  2 
A.  L.  S.  folio.     To  Francesco  Ricci.     £30. 

Charles  V.  Emperor  of  Germany.  A.  L.  S.  folio.  To 
Francis  I.     Written  in  French.     £32. 

Dejoe,  Daniel.  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to.  May  29,  1711. 
£195. 

Dryden,  John.     Poet.     A.    L.   S.    }/2   page  4to.     Aug. 

5,  1699.     £34. 
Edward  IF.     King  of  England.     L.  S.  3^  page  oblong 

folio.     To  the  Duke  of  Milan.     £50. 
Edward  VL     King  of  England.     Royal  sign  manual 

to  a  warrant  on  paper.     March  18,  1553.     £35. 


EUROPEAN  COLLECTIONS  169 

Elizabeth.  Queen  of  England.  A.  L.  S.  (in  French), 
2  pages  folio.  Sept.,  1602.  To  King  Henry  IV.  of 
France.     £90. 

Falstaff^  Sir  John.  Fanrious  military  commander,  van- 
quished by  Joan  of  Arc.  D.  S.  on  vellum,  1  page 
folio.     Jan.  1,  1435  (1436).     £27. 

Francis  I.  King  of  France.  A.  L.  S.  1  page  4to,  1527. 
To  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  assuring  him  of  the  de- 
votion of  the  writer.     £38. 

Garrick,  David.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to.  London,  Dec. 
3,  1773.  Speaking  of  his  appearance  in  the  character 
of  Hamlet.     £42. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver.  A.  L.  S.  1  page  4to.  To  Garrick. 
£265. 

Keats,  John.  English  poet.  A.  L.  S.  2}4  pages  8vo. 
To  Fanny  Brawne.     £100. 

La  Fontaine,  Jean  de.  Poet  and  Fabulist.  A.  L.  S. 
2  pages  Svo,  Sept.  2,  1683.  To  the  Duchesse  de 
Bouillon.     £60. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio.  July 
11,  1568.  To  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  Fine  and  im- 
portant.    £340. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Concerning  Collectors  and  Private  Collections 
IN  THE  United  States. 

PRIOR  to  1850  there  were  few  collectors  of 
autographs  in  the  United  States,  and  their  col- 
lections, with  four  exceptions — those  of  Robert 
Gilmor,  I.  K.  Tefft,  William  B.  Sprague,  and 
Lewis  J.  Cist — were  small  and  unimportant.  In  this 
category  come  the  names  of  Prof,  R.  W.  Gibbes  [of 
Columbia,  S.  C],  Benjamin  B.  Thatcher  [author,  of 
Boston],  Thomas  S.  Grimke  [philanthropist,  of  Charles- 
ton, S.  C],  Mrs.  E.  H.  Allen  [of  Providence,  R.  L],  and 
Mellen  Chamberlain  [of  Boston]. 

Between  1850  and  1860  this  list  was  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  the  names  of  Dr.  John  S.  H.  Fogg 
[of  Boston],  Joseph  J.  Mickley  [of  Philadelphia],  Dr. 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet  [of  New  York],  Robert  C.  Davis 
[of  Philadelphia],  Benj.  Perley  Poore  [of  Washington, 
D.    C],    Frank   M.    Etting   [of   Philadelphia],    Brantz 


\\ 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  171 

Mayer  [of  Baltimore],  Ferdinand  J.  Drccr  [of  Phila- 
delphia], and  Joshua  J.  Cohen  [of  Baltimore].  There- 
after it  grew  steadily. 

A  few  words  will  suffice  to  tell  what  is  known  of 
the  general  character  and  history  of  some  of  these  col- 
lections. 

Robert  Gilmor  was  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Balti- 
more, who  became  a  devotee  to  art  and  accumulated 
a  fine  gallery  of  paintings.  Somewhere  about  the  year 
1825  he  commenced  the  formation  of  a  collection  of 
autographs,  and  was  thereafter  a  liberal  buyer  in 
European  markets.  In  1841  he  printed,  for  private 
distribution,  a  catalogue  of  the  foreign  autographs  in 
his  possession,  which  contained  many  good,  and  some 
rare,  names.  The  American  portion  of  the  collection 
was  small.  In  1851 — after  the  death  of  Mr.  Gilmor — 
Ferdinand  J.  Dreer,  of  Philadelphia,  purchased  part 
of  the  collection,  the  remainder  being  sold  piecemeal. 

The  following  rather  curious,  but  interesting,  ac- 
count of  Mr.  Gilmor's  collection  is  given  in  a  letter 
written  by  Benj.  B.  Thatcher  [the  well-known  author, 
who  was  also  a  collector  of  autographs]  to  the  New 
Orleans  "Bulletin." 

Providence,  R.  I.,  June,  1835. 

I  embrace  my  earliest  leisure  since  writing  you  last 
to  give  you  a  sketch  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable 


172  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

curiosities  which  I  have  thus  far  met  with.  I  mean  the 
collection  of  autographs  in  the  possession  of  Robert 
Gilmor,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore,  a  gentleman  of  taste  and 
travel,  and  fortunately  favored  with  the  means  of  in- 
dulging the  one,  and  availing  himself,  as  heretofore  he 
has  done  freely,  of  the  benefit  of  the  other.  I  had 
heard  of  his  cabinet  formerly,  and,  I  believe,  mentioned 
him  to  you  in  my  description  of  Mr.  Tefft's  collection 
at  Savannah,  as  standing  at  the  head  of  his  profession, 
so  to  speak,  in  this  country,  if  not  in  the  caste  at  large. 
He  has  not  more  of  the  passion,  perhaps,  than  some 
others — and  the  number,  by  the  way,  is  fast  increas- 
ing— but  more  of  the  means  of  making  the  best  of  it, 
which  he  does.  I  venture  to  say  it  has  been  no  rare 
thing  for  him  to  give,  not  five  and  ten  dollars  only  for  a 
precious  rarity,  but  fifteen,  twenty,  thirty,  and  I  dare 
say  more  than  that — more  than  he  would  be  willing 
to  acknowledge.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  other  col- 
lector has  adopted  this  system  to  any  extent  worthy  of 
mention.  It  is  common  abroad;  indeed  the  gratuitous 
system  is  getting  fast  out  of  use  there;  autographs  are 
growing  daily  more  and  more  articles  of  mere  mer- 
chandise in  the  literary  market;  and  begging  has  given 
place  to  buying,  perhaps  almost  universally,  with  the 
exception  of  those  cases  where  the  individual  is  himself 
distinguished    enough    to    accumulate    a    curious    and 


ROBERT  GILMOR 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  173 

recherche  correspondence.  .  .  .  Mr.  Gilmor's  cabinet  is 
not  the  most  extensive  in  the  United  States,  so  far  as 
quantity  is  concerned.  That  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sprague, 
at  Albany,  stands  in  that  respect  at  the  head  of  the 
list  longo  intervallo,  being  composed  of  20,000  specimens 
at  least.  ...  A  very  considerable  portion  of  them, 
however,  consists  of  the  theological  division.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Gilmor's  is  more  general,  though  less  voluminous,  and 
it  is  also,  autographically  speaking,  undoubtedly  more 
valuable — admitted  to  be  so  by  the  worthy  Dr.  Sprague 
himself.  It  consists  of  about  20  large  quarto  hollow 
wooden  volumes  filled  with  loose  letters,  notes,  royal 
decrees  and  proclamations,  papal  bulls,  state  papers, 
single  signatures  pasted  upon  white  sheets,  and  all  the 
other  variety  of  documents  commonly  comprised  in 
similar  hoards,  lying  fiat  and  neatly  labelled  with  such 
memoranda  as  may  be  essential  to  preserve  the  record 
of  their  authenticity  and  whatever  is  of  interest  in  their 
history  or  character  at  large.  .  .  .  My  time  being 
limited,  I  asked  to  be  shown  the  poets,  foreign — having 
a  particular  desire  to  look  at  Byron  and  some  others, 
which  are  not  very  common  even  at  this  day;  for  Byron, 
especially,  has  come  already,  such  is  the  search  for  him, 
to  be  decidedly  a  rara  avis.  In  respect  to  him,  partic- 
ularly, my  host  has  been  fortunate.  He  showed  me, 
among  other  things,  the  identical  letter  of  credit  which 


174  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

he  took  with  him — in  1829,  I  think  it  was —  on  starting 
for  those  travels  which  proved  to  be  his  last.  .  .  . 
There  was  also  one  of  his  bills  of  exchange,  and,  if  I 
mistake  not,  a  letter  or  note  to  Cam  Hobhouse,  from 
Genoa,  signed  "Noel."  Walter  Scott  of  course  is  here, 
with  the  ordinary  characteristic  of  a  total  want  of 
punctuation  of  any  sort.  Then  came  a  letter  from 
Southey  to  Scott — ^how  interesting  you  will  easily  con- 
ceive; long  letters  of  Chapelain,  Goldoni,  Metastasio, 
Racine,  and  Malesherbes;  clusters  of  Cunningham, 
Joanna  Baillie,  Charles  Dibdin,  Barton,  Montgomery, 
Watts,  Hemans,  Bowring,  Crabbe,  L.  E.  L.,  Moore, 
and  I  can't  remember  whom,  all  crowded  together. 
...  In  many  instances  poems — sometimes  original 
pieces,  sometimes  the  celebrated — are  preserved.  There 
is  a  piece  of  Mrs.  Barbauld,  and  another  of  Rogers;  a 
broken  fragment  of  Wordsworth;  and  a  verse  or  two  of 
Horace  Smith.  .  .  .  But  what  shall  I  say  of  an  article 
from  the  pen  of  the  immortal  Alfieri  himself,  of  the 
date  of  1793.  It  were  enough  to  set  a  genuine  virtuoso 
a  little  frantic;  and  if  I  were  one,  and  were  compelled 
to  choose  a  single  specimen  from  this  rich  reservoir  of 
rarities,  alone,  I  confess  I  should  be  sadly  at  a  loss 
whether  to  postpone  this  splendid  treasure  even  for  the 
primitive  copy  of  that  masterly  effort  of  Campbell's, 
"What's  hallowed  ground" — for  here  it  is,  corrections 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  175 

and  all.  It  makes  my  eyes  water  to  think  of  ii.  1 
must  breathe  a  while  for  a  fresh  foray  in  my  memo- 
randa. Miss  Edgeworth  shines  with  this  constellation, 
and  the  famous  Berkeley  and  Sir  Richard  Steele,  who 
has  got  to  be  decidedly  rare  and  precious.  Madame 
D'Arblay  and  the  portly  Dr.  Parr  hobble  along  to- 
gether; and  Jeifrey  goes  arm  in  arm  with  Mrs.  Graham, 
the  historian;  while  Roscoe,  Porson,  Pinkerton,  Gillies, 
Lamb,  and  Bryan  W.  Proctor  bring  up  the  rear.  Then 
comes  a  procession  of  Bulwer,  Lady  Morgan,  Hallam, 
Richard  Cumberland,  Godwin  and  Darwin,  with  a 
rabble  rout  of  Holcroft,  Arthur  Young,  Macklin,  Mur- 
phy, Gifford,  Hamilton,  Shelley,  and  Sir  John  Shore. 
Two  letters  of  Sir  William  Jones  follow  on.  There  is 
a  power  of  attorney  by  Swift,  a  note  of  Addison's,  the 
signature  of  Francis  Bacon  to  an  instrument  of  1616; 
letters  of  Burke,  Dugald  Stewart,  and  Hearne;  War- 
burton  and  Arbuthnot,  side  by  side;  Jeremy  Bentham, 
alone  in  his  glory;  a  knot  of  Italians,  with  Sismondi, 
Manzoni,  Belzoni  and  Botta  at  their  head;  Hannah 
More;  and  how  many  others  more  I  can't  remember. 
I  do  remember,  however,  three  of  the  bijoux  of  this  vol- 
ume. One  is  a  letter  of  Dillenius  to  Gronovius,  I  be- 
lieve in  Latin;  the  second,  of  Pope  to  the  novelist  Rich- 
ardson; and  the  third,  of  the  celebrated  Sam  Johnson 
to  Bishop  White,  of  Philadelphia,  dated  1773,  and  giv- 


176  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

ing  an  account  of  Goldsmith's  new  comedy  and  a  new 
edition  of  his  own  Dictionary.  The  Doctor  wrote  a 
back  hand  also,  something  like  Beattie's. 

In  the  French  literary  chapter,  among  the  rarities, 
is  a  letter  of  Rousseau  to  D'Alembert — a  gem  of  course; 
Salmatius  of  1687;  a  fragment  of  Tasso,  in  Latin,  and 
of  Vosslus,  1648,  in  the  same;  Diderot,  Volney,  De 
Stael,  Horian,  and  Beaumarchais;  and  the  whole  list 
of  the  pensioners  of  the  Institute,  from  SO  to  100  of 
them.  There  are  the  scientific  savans  on  a  similar 
pay-roll,  the  two  first  named  of  which,  I  think,  are 
Lagrange  and  Laplace,  and  then  Delambre,  Lacroix, 
Lalande,  Hauy,  Lamarque,  Cuvier,  and  so  on.  In 
this  division  are  Michaux,  Banks,  Denon,  Priestley, 
Davy,  Bonpland,  Humboldt,  and  Blumenbach.  Kotz- 
ebue,  Goethe,  and  Schlegel  were  there  somewhere. 
Among  the  artists  were  notes  of  Chantry,  Thorwaldsen 
and  West,  and  something  from  Fuseli,  Shea,  Camuc- 
cini,  Gerard,  Morghen,  Beechey,  Madame  Le  Brun, 
Canova  and  Lawrence,  and,  what  is  still  better,  of 
Pietro  Paulo  Rubens,  an  inestimable  treasure.  Then 
there  is  a  valuable  dramatic  collection,  which  I  cannot 
detail,  but  Bannister  and  Pasta  I  remember  among 
them,  as  well  as  Kean,  all  the  Kembles,  etc.  In  many 
cases  there  are  signatures  only,  more  than  that  having 
become  introuvahle.     So  it  is  with  Walpole,  Voltaire 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  177 

[very  rare],  and  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.  .  .  .  The 
Bonaparte  family,  male  and  female,  are  all  here,  Letitia 
Mere  included,  and  the  son  alone  wanting.  I  looked 
at  Maria  Louisa  with  a  strange  interest,  and  especially 
when  I  saw  it  side  by  side  with  all  the  distingues  of  her 
day.  I  turned  then  to  gaze  upon  the  musty  memorials 
of  Queen  Elizabeth;  for  there  was  her  hand  proper. 
There  too  was  her  august  father,  the  Eighth  Harry. 
There  were  Queen  Anne,  Leopold,  a  whole  letter  of 
Charles  L,  Boyer,  Christophe,  Iturbide,  a  letter  of  the 
great  Charles  V.  of  Spain  to  Magistrates  [1522],  his  son 
Philip  IL  to  the  Duke  of  Alva,  in  French  [1567], 
Capo  DTstria,  Saxe  Weimar,  and  a  host  more.  I  con- 
fess that  I  valued  Lafayette,  with  his  wife  and  family, 
beyond  them  all.  Every  American  will  attach  a  still 
higher  estimate  to  the  Washington  series,  which  of  it- 
self forms  the  soul  of  a  volume.  This  is  rich  indeed. 
It  begins  with  the  great  man  as  a  boy  13,  and  follows  his 
writings  down  to  his  death.  There  is  his  ciphering  at 
school,  his  surveying  minutes,  his  journal  as  an  orderly 
sergeant,  his  Braddock  memoranda,  his  Revolutionary 
hand,  and  so  to  the  end,  showing  the  gradual  settling 
down  of  the  characters  into  that  beautiful  and  char- 
acteristic writing  now  so  generally  known  and  admired. 
What  a  treasure  is  this;  and  there  is  a  corresponding  one 
in  the  autographs  of  the  entire  family  of  the  Penns, 


178  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

from  William  to  this  day.  .  .  .  Here  are  files  of  Col- 
onial papers  of  every  date,  including  Lord  Baltimore's 
in  abundance,  and  especially  the  original  minute-book 
of  the  persons  employed  by  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
in  1751  to  survey  the  boundary  between  those  States. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Gilmor  has  succeeded,  with  infinite  pains, 
in  getting  together  the  autographs  of  all  the  Signers  of 
the  Declaration — that  ne  plus  ultra  of  collectors — with 
the  exception  of  a  single  one,  Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Sprague 
has  outrun  him  in  this  field,  for  he  has  the  whole,  and 
so  has  Dr.  Raffles,  of  Liverpool;  and  these  are  the  only 
complete  sets  in  the  world.  Mr.  Gilmor  will  finish 
his,  I  cannot  doubt.  He  could  not  lie  still  in  his  grave 
without  it.  But  there  would  be  no  end  to  a  detail  like 
this.  I  will  conclude  with  a  curiosity  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude, such  as  autograph  hunters,  were  they  able, 
would  give  their  weight  in  gold  for.  I  do  not  refer  to 
a  letter  of  Sterne's  to  Dodsley,  chaffering  in  vain  to  get 
£50  [I  think]  for  Tristam  Shandy.  I  mean  a  memo- 
randum in  the  writing  of  the  notorious  Dr.  Dodd,  being 
the  original  minutes  furnished  to  the  scrivener  for  the 
forged  deed  to  Chesterfield,  of  £500,  payable  at  25 
years  of  age — for  which  he  suffered  the  penalty  of  the 
law.  The  name  of  the  gambler  is  not  given;  a  signifi- 
cant blank  stands  in  the  place  of  it.  In  some  depart- 
ments are  deficiencies  still.     What  would  Mr.  Gilmor 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  179 

give  for  a  Columbus — such  as  never  has  been  seen  in 
America — or  for  a  genuine  Isabella!  Gibbon  is  hard 
to  be  had,  and  so  is  Garrick.  Grotius  I  never  have  met 
with  anywhere. 

Mr.  Gilmor  is  the  owner,  I  may  add,  of  the  best 
private  collection  of  paintings  in  this  country.  They 
cost  him  over  320,000." 

Frank  M.  Etting  was  a  lawyer,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  an  historical  student,  who  devoted  himself  assid- 
uously, from  early  manhood  [circa  1852],  to  the  col- 
lection of  American  autographs,  particularly  those  of 
the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  periods.  He  left  his 
numerous  and  valuable  manuscript  possessions  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

Robert  C.  Davis  was  a  Philadelphia  pharmacist, 
whose  antiquarian  taste  led  him  to  gather,  with  avid- 
ity, Continental  and  Colonial  paper  money,  coins, 
and  autographs.  Of  the  last  named,  he  had  an  inter- 
esting collection,  principally  American,  including  a 
complete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence; which  was  sold  en  bloc,  after  his  death,  to 
Charles  Roberts,  of  Philadelphia.  It,  together  with 
the  additions  which  Mr.  Roberts  afterwards  made  to 
it,  is  now  deposited  in  Roberts  Hall,  Haverford  Col- 
lege;  having  been   given   to   that   institution   by   his 


180  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

widow.  Mr.  Davis  was  an  exceptionally  good  judge 
of  the  genuineness  of  autographs,  and  his  opinion  in 
doubtful  cases  was  often  sought. 

The  very  valuable  collection  of  Ferdinand  J. 
Dreer,  of  Philadelphia,  is  described  in  a  catalogue  con- 
sisting of  two  large  4to  volumes,  which  he  printed  for 
private  distribution  in  1890.  Its  formation  was  begun 
in  1848,  and  year  by  year  it  grew  rapidly  in  size  and 
importance.  Being  the  fortunate  possessor  of  large 
means,  Mr.  Dreer  was  never  compelled  to  decline  the 
purchase  of  a  rarity  on  account  of  the  price  asked  for 
it.  Several  years  prior  to  his  death  he  gave  the  entire 
collection  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
where  it  is  now  carefully  preserved  and  greatly  treas- 
ured. 

The  splendid  American  collections  formed  by  Dr. 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  of  New  York,  were  purchased 
from  him  at  a  very  large  price — said  to  have  been  not 
less  than  3200,000— by  Mr.  John  S.  Kennedy,  a  New 
York  banker,  in  1896;  who  then  presented  them  to  the 
New  York  Public  Library.  The  several  series  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  this 
collection  are,  and  must  ever  remain,  unequaled. 
They  contain  the  only  known  autograph  letter  of 
Thomas  Lynch,  Jun. 


THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET,   M.  D. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  181 

The  collection  of  Dr.  John  S.  H.  Fogg,  of  Boston, 
was  a  choice  one.  He  became  a  cripple  about  the  time 
he  reached  middle  life,  and  turned  his  attention  to 
autographs  as  a  desirable  diversion  for  a  man  deprived 
of  physical  activity.  He  was  particularly  interested 
in  the  series  of  Colonial  Governors  of  Mass.,  Signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  Generals  of  the 
Revolutionary  War;  and  was  successful  in  obtaining 
fine  specimens  of  most  of  the  names  they  embrace. 
The  entire  collection  has,  by  his  bequest,  become  the 
property  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Maine. 

Joseph  J.  Mickley,  of  Philadelphia,  was  a  dealer  in 
musical  instruments,  and  for  many  years  was  an  ardent 
collector  of  coins  and  autographs.  After  his  death,  in 
1878,  the  autographs  belonging  to  his  estate  were  sold 
at  auction  in  Philadelphia.  The  catalogue  enumerates 
a  complete  and  fairly  good  set  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  many  desirable  miscel- 
laneous American  and  foreign  names,  and  a  complete 
set  of  letters  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States. 
In  the  last-named  set  there  was  a  very  remarkable 
A.  L.  S.  4to,  of  four  pages,  written  by  President  Lin- 
coln to  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan  on  April  9,  1862,  as- 
suring him  of  the  President's  kind  feeling  and  full  pur- 
pose to  sustain  him,  and  closing  with  the  words  ^''But 
you  must  act.^^ 


182  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Brantz  Mayer,  the  well  known  author  who  died  in 
Baltimore,  on  March  21,  1879,  left  a  small  collection 
of  letters,  chiefly  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  among 
which  were  a  considerable  number  of  the  rarer  Signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  Generals  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  The  best  of  them  came  from  the 
Maryland  State  papers.  After  his  death  they  were 
scattered;  partly  at  private,  partly  at  public,  sale. 

The  large  collection  formed  by  Major  Ben  Perley 
Poore,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  and  Washington,  D.  C, 
was  disposed  of  at  auction,  in  Boston,  on  Feb.  15-17, 
1888.  The  catalogue  is  a  pamphlet  of  153  pages, 
enumerating  2751  separate  items,  most  of  which  are 
American.  The  Generals  of  the  Civil  War,  both  Union 
and  Confederate,  members  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
Presidents  of  the  United  States  and  their  Cabinets, 
Signers  of  the  Delcaration  of  Independence,  and  officers 
in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the  War  of  1812,  were 
well  represented.     The  sale  produced  36500. 


The  Tefft  Collection. 

Israel  K.  Tefft,  of  Savannah,  Ga.,  was  probably 
the  earliest  American  collector;  his  first  acquisitions 
of  autographs  having  been  made  as  far  back  as  1815. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  183 

From  this  date,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1861, 
he  was  devoted  to  his  hobby,  and  was  successful  in 
gathering  an  interesting  collection,  of  moderate  size, 
containing  two  complete  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence;  the  better  of  which  was  sold  by 
his  widow  to  Mr.  Almon  W.  Griswold,  of  New  York, 
for  the  exceedingly  small  price  of  3500.  The  rest  of 
the  collection  was  disposed  of  at  auction,  in  New  York, 
in  1867.  The  catalogue  is  a  pamphlet  of  262  pages, 
enumerating  2630  items;  of  which  1794  are  American, 
the  rest  foreign.  Many  of  them  include  a  number  of 
names  or  specimens.  It  contains  much  good  material. 
Colonial,  Revolutionary,  and  of  a  later  date,  as  well  as 
a  few  good  foreign  names,  coupled  with  a  considerable 
quantity  of  what  is  closely  akin  to  trash.  The  sale 
produced  37369. 

As  indicative  of  the  difference  between  the  auction 
values  of  that  day  and  of  the  present  time,  the  following 
instances  may  be  given : 

A  complete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence sold  at  3625. 
Arnold,  Gen.  Benedict.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     36. 
Cooper,  J.  Fenimore,     A.  L.  S.  4to.     31-50. 
Eliot,  John  [Apostle  of  the  Indians].     A.  D.  S.  J^  page 

folio.     33.50. 
Gadsden,  Gen.  Christopher.    A.  L.  S.  4to,  1792.     32. 


184  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Gist,  Gen.  Mordecai.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  2  pages,  1781. 

31.50. 
Harrison,  Robert  H.  [Supreme  Court  U.  S.].     A.  L.  S. 

folio,  1780.     31.63. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     75  cents. 
Irving,  Washington.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  2  pages,  1834.     33. 
Lafayette,  General.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1778.     32.50. 
Payne,  John  Howard.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  4  pages,   1835. 

31.25. 
Poe,  Edgar  A.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1836.     35. 
Poe,  Edgar  A.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1840.     37. 
Jones,  John  Paul.     A.  L.   S.  folio,   1^  pages,   1777. 

314.50. 
Beethoven,  Ludwig  von  (the  composer).     A.  L.  S.  4to. 

313. 
Dickens,  Charles.     A.  L.  S.  8vo,  2  pages,  1842.     32.50. 
Henry  VII,  King  of  England.     D.  S.  folio.     34. 
Lamb,  Charles.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     314. 
Thackeray,  William  M.     A.  L.  S.  8vo,  2  pages,  1856. 

33. 


The  Sprague  Collection. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  William  B.  Sprague,  who  passed  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  as  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  Church 


REV.  WILLIAM   H.  SPRAGUE 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  185 

in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  was  not  only  the  patriarch  of  Ameri- 
can collectors,  but  was  acknowledged  to  be  the  owner 
of  the  largest  and  finest  collection  in  the  United  States. 
Shortly  after  his  graduation  from  college,  he  became  a 
tutor  in  the  family  of  Major  Lewis,  a  nephew  of  Gen. 
Washington,  who  had  in  his  possession  the  entire  cor- 
respondence of  the  General.  Young  Sprague — then 
not  more  than  twenty-two  years  of  age — ^was  allowed 
to  select  from  this  correspondence  all  the  letters  and 
papers  he  desired;  and  thus  he  obtained  a  great  num- 
ber of  military  letters  addressed  to  Washington  by 
Generals  and  other  ofBcers  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
as  well  as  many  that  were  written  by  other  leading 
men  between  the  years  1774  and  1799.  Among  the 
papers  thus  secured  were  specimens  of  Washington's 
handwriting  from  the  age  of  twelve  to  that  of  seven- 
teen. In  after  years  he  was  given  the  correspondence 
of  Samuel  Huntington,  a  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  that  of  Thomas  Rodney,  of  Del., 
and  Jedediah  Morse;  and  was  also  the  recipient  of  a 
large  part  of  the  papers  of  President  Monroe,  Aaron 
Burr,  and  Sir  William  Johnson.  From  these  and 
other  sources  he  obtained  an  abundance  of  material 
available  for  exchanges  with  American  and  European 
collectors.  Owing  to  his  prominence  in  the  Presby- 
terian  Church,   many  clergymen   of   that   denomina- 


186  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

tion,  both  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
interested  themselves  in  securing  desirable  contribu- 
tions to  his  treasures.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
1876,  the  collection  numbered  upwards  of  90,000 
items,  of  which  at  least  one-third  were  letters  or  docu- 
ments of  men  and  women  of  prominence.  Most  of  the 
American  series  wxre  complete,  and  a  majority  of  the 
names  in  them  were  represented  by  numerous  speci- 
mens. The  European  letters  included  many  rarities 
and  numbered  not  less  than  5000.  Five  years  after 
his  death  the  collection  was  sold  en  bloc,  and  still  re- 
mains intact  in  the  hands  of  its  purchaser. 

The  Cist  Collection. 

Lewis  J.  Cist,  who  became  widely  known  as  an  en- 
thusiastic collector  of  autographs,  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania on  November  20,  1818,  and  died  in  Cincinnati 
on  March  30,  1885.  He  commenced  his  collection 
when  he  was  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age;  and 
thereafter  devoted  himself,  most  energetically,  to  the 
acquisition  of  letters  or  documents  of  notable  persons 
of  all  nationalities  and  periods.  His  life  was  spent, 
partly  in  St.  Louis  and  partly  in  Cincinnati,  as  teller 
in  a  bank.  His  pecuniary  resources  were  not  large; 
but  a  little  money  went  a  long  way  in  securing  auto- 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  187 

graphs  in  England,  France  and  Germany — partic- 
ularly the  latter  country — during  the  years  dating 
from  1836  to  1860.  By  dint  of  great  industry  and  very 
numerous  exchanges  with  other  collectors,  he  succeeded 
in  forming  a  collection  which,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
ranked  second  only  to  that  of  Dr.  Sprague.  It  was 
sold  at  auction,  in  New  York,  in  four  parts;  the  first 
sale  taking  place  in  October,  1886,  and  the  last  in  May, 
1887.  The  catalogues  of  these  four  sales  described 
11,624  items,  which  realized  about  318,000.  The 
American  portion  was  quite  complete  in  all  the  principal 
series;  and  included  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  [elsewhere  spoken  of  in  detail], 
the  Federal  Convention,  Generals  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  Presidents,  and  a  specially  large  and  important 
gathering  of  the  Colonial  Governors.  Many  of  the 
latter — including  a  fine  A.  L.  S.  folio  of  Roger  Williams 
and  others  of  equal  rarity — came  from  the  Winthrop 
papers,  and  were  given  to  Mr.  Cist  by  Hon.  Robert  C. 
Winthrop  in  return  [as  he  himself  told  a  brother  col- 
lector] for  a  letter  of  President  William  H.  Harrison 
which  Mr.  Winthrop  desired  as  a  present  for  a  friend. 
The  manuscript  autograph  poems  by  the  most  noted 
American  poets  were  remarkable  both  in  point  of  num- 
ber and  importance.  The  foreign  portion  of  the  col- 
lection was  quite  equal  to  the  American.     It  covered  a 


188  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

large  field  and,  among  many  fine  and  desirable  speci- 
mens, contained  a  complete  set  of  letters  of  Napoleon 
and  his  Marshals,  and  a  large  number  of  letters  of  the 
leading  characters  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

Specific  mention   may  be  made  of  the  following 
items : 
Allen,  Col.  Ethan.     Fine  military  A.  L.  S.  folio,  1781. 

320. 
Williams,  Roger  [founder  of  R.  I.].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1637. 

3107.50. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter  [Governor  of  N.  Y.].     A.  L.  S.  folio, 

1664.    381. 
AndroSy  Sir  Edmund  [Governor  of  N.  Y.].     A.  L.  S. 

folio,  1675.     331. 
Penn,  IVilliam.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1685.     350. 
Lessingy  Gotihold  Eph.  [Great  German  author].     A.  L. 

S.  4to,  1775.     318. 
Schiller,  Friedrich  von  [Great  poet].     A.  L.  S.  4  pages 

4to.     325. 
Korner,  Karl  Theodor  [Celebrated  poet].     A.  L.  S.  3 

pages  4to.     37. 
Garrick,  David  [Actor].     A.  L.  S.  8vo.     311. 
Abington,  Frances  [Actress].     A.  L.  S.  4to.     35.25. 
Jordan,  Dora  [Actress].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to.     33.25. 
Melancthon,  Philip  [friend  of  Luther].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages 

folio.     340. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  189 

Aquiluy  Caspar  [friend  of  Luther).     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1551. 

318. 
Richardson,  Samuel  [Novelist].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to, 

1758.     322. 
Haydn,  Joseph  [Composer  of  Music].     A.   L.   S.  4to, 

1800.     327. 
Mozart,  Wolfgang  A  made  us.     A.  L.  S.  4  to.     369. 
Beethoven,  Ludzvig  von.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     327. 
Schubert,  Franz  [Composer].     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1828.     317. 
Congreve,  William  [Dramatist].     A.  D.  S.  folio,  1718. 

36. 
Southerne,  Thomas  [Dramatist].     A.  L.  S.  8vo.     34.25. 
Medici,  Catherine  de  [Queen  of  France].     A.  L.  S.  folio. 

318. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte.     L.  S.  4to,  1804.     Relative  to  his 

coronation  as  Emperor.     315.50. 
Cowper,  William  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1792. 

313. 
Keats,  John  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1820.     322. 
Pope,  Alexander  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1720. 

332. 

Shelley,  Percy  B.  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1817.     342. 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.     L.  S.  folio,  1559.     352. 
Elizabeth  [Queen  of  England].     L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1591. 
332. 


190  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Washington,  George.     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to,  1779.     To 

Col.  John  Laurens.     332. 
Jackson,  Andrew.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1841.     33.75. 
Taylor,  Zachary.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1848.     313.50. 
Lincoln,  Abraham.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1849.     327.50. 
Putnam,  Gen.  Israel.     L.  S.  4to,  1776.     39.50. 
Kalb,  John,  Baron  de  [General].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1777. 

321. 
Conway,  Gen.   Thomas.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1778. 

375. 
Jones,  John  Paul.    A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1780.    334. 

The  Leffingwell  Collection. 

The  months  of  January  and  March,  1891,  witnessed 
the  dispersal  at  auction,  in  Boston,  of  the  splendid 
collection  formed  by  Prof.  E.  H.  Leffingwell,  of  New 
Haven.  He  commenced  his  autographic  pursuits  when 
he  was  quite  a  young  man,  and  was,  with  Dr.  Sprague 
and  Messrs.  Tefft  and  Cist,  one  of  the  small  coterie  of 
noted  early  American  collectors.  During  the  course 
of  a  long  life,  he  was  a  liberal  and  constant  purchaser 
from  dealers,  both  American  and  European,  and  at 
auction  sales. 

The  catalogues  of  his  collection  number,  respec- 
tively, 331  pages,  enumerating  3335  items,  and  357  pages. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  191 

enumerating  3315  items;  very  many  of  which  include  a 
considerable  number  of  autographs.  The  collection 
was  much  larger  and  more  important  than  that  of  Mr. 
Cist,  and  was  unquestionably  the  finest  that  had  ever 
been  sold  at  auction  in  the  United  States;  producing 
ov^er  351,000,  and  showing  a  great  advance  in  values 
within  the  few  years  that  had  elapsed  since  the  Cist 
sale.  It  comprised  not  only  the  series  of  Colonial 
Governors,  Albany  Convention,  Stamp  Act  Congress, 
Annapolis  Convention,  Constitutional  Convention, 
Signers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  Members  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  Generals  and  officers  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
but  also  many  foreign  Sovereigns,  and  a  great  number  of 
foreign  autographs,  English,  French,  and  German.  Its 
most  notable  portion  was  its  complete  set  of  the  Signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  classed  as  fourth  in 
rank  among  the  twenty-two  complete  sets  then  known ; 
which  realized  310,350,  a  price  regarded  at  the  time  as 
enormous.  There  was  also  a  second  set,  lacking 
Lynch  and  Gwinnett  only. 

Amidst  such  a  wealth  of  material  it  will  be  mani- 
festly impossible  to  note  more  than  a  few  items. 
Boone,  Daniel  [Pioneer].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1809.     335. 
Braddocky  Gen.  Edward.     L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1755.     347. 
Byron,  Lord  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  4  pages,  4to  1819.     385. 


192  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Danforthy  Thomas  [Deputy  Governor  of  Mass.].     D.  S. 

4to,  1673.    335. 
Davenport,  Rev.  John  [Founder  of  New  Haven  Colony]. 

A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1650.    381. 
Eliot,  Rev.  John  [Missionary  to  the  Indians].     A.  L.  S. 

2  pages  folio,  1673.     3500. 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.     D.  S.  folio,  1559.     390. 
Paul  I.  [Emperor  of  Russia].     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1779.    321. 
Garrick,  David  [Actor].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to.     342. 
Penn,  William.     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to,  1708.     3105. 
Williams,  Roger  [founder  of  Rhode  Island].     A.  L.  S.  2 

pages  folio,  1656.     3310. 
Dunster,  Henry  [President  of  Harvard].     A.  L.  S.  folio, 

1655.    356. 
Jones,    John   Paul.    A.    L.    S.    3    pages   folio,    1782. 

3107.50. 
Knyphausen,  Baron  [Commanded  the  Hessian  troops 

in  the  Revolutionary  War].     L.  S.  folio,  1780.     340. 
McNeill,  Hector  [Captain  in  the  Continental  Navy]. 

A.  L.  S.  folio,  1785.    320. 
Endecott,  John  [Governor  of  Mass.].     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1659. 

360. 
Dudley,   Thomas  [Governor  of  Mass.].     A.  L.  S.  4to, 

1649.    3110. 
Mather,  Rev.  Cotton.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1692.     3101. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  193 

Munson,  Capi.  William.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio,  1780. 

Giving  an  account  of  the  execution  of  Major  Andre. 

3450. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1719.     3325. 
Poe,  Edgar  A.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  with  an  autograph  poem 

signed.     3255. 
Revere,  Paul.     A.  L.  S.  [9  lines],  1779.     340. 
Andre,  Major  John.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1780.     3700. 
Kalb,  Baron  de  [General  in  the  Revolutionary  War].    A. 

L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1777.     377.50. 
Hale,  Captain  Nathan  [the  Martyr  Spy].     A.  L.  S.  folio, 

1775.    31275. 
Harrison,  Col.  Robert  H.  [Aide  to  Gen.  Washington]. 

A.  L.  S.  folio,  1779.    350. 
Lee,   Gen.    Charles   [Revolutionary   War].     A.  L.  S.   2 

pages  4to,  1776.     3175. 
Lewis,  Gen.  Andrew  [Revolutionary  War].    A.  L.  S.  4to, 

1779.    3121. 
Moore,  Gen.  James  [Revolutionary  War].    L.  S.  2  pages 

folio,  1777.    3168. 
Nash,   Gen.   Francis   [Revolutionary  War].     A.  D.  S. 

folio,  1765.    370. 
Pomeroy,  Gen.  Seth  [Revolutionary  War].    A.  L.  S.  4to, 

1773.     3100. 
Scammel,  Col.  Alexander.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1780. 

Giving  an  account  of  Arnold's  treason.     3425. 


194  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Spencer,  Gen.  Joseph  [Revolutionary  War].  A.  L.  S. 
4to,  1776.     ^6. 

Warren,  Gen.  Joseph.  L.  S.  folio,  1775.  To  Benj. 
Franklin.     3225. 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony.  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1781. 
To  Gen.  Washington,  on  the  mutiny  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Line.     3150. 

Woodford,  Gen.  Wm.  [Revolutionary  War].  A.  L.  S. 
folio,  1778.     380. 

Bartlett,  Josiah  [Signer].  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio,  1776. 
3240. 

Hall,  Lyman  [Signer].     A.  L.  S.  4  pages  folio,  1777. 

Giving  an  account  of  the  duel  in  which  Gwinnett  was 

killed.     31775. 
Hancock,  John  [Signer].     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1776.     3380. 
Heyzvard,   Thomas,  Jr.  [Signer].     A.  L.  S.  4to,   1780. 

3450. 
Livingston,  Philip  [Signer].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1776. 

3325. 
Lincoln,  Abraham.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1840.     390. 
Johnson,  Andrew.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1853.     380. 
Washington,  Gen.  George.     L.  S.  4  pages  folio,   1782. 

3100. 
Wolfe,  Gen.  James.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1752.     3105. 


CHARLES  C.  JONES 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  195 

The  Charles  C.  Jones  Collection. 

Col.  Charles  C.  Jones — born  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  in 
1831 — was  an  officer  of  artillery  in  the  Confederate 
Army  during  the  Civil  War  who,  after  peace  was  de- 
clared, devoted  his  attention  largely  to  historical  pur- 
suits. In  1866  he  commenced  the  formation  of  a 
series  of  autograph  letters  of  all  the  Confederate 
generals;  which  he  succeeded  in  completing,  after  a 
large  correspondence,  during  a  number  of  years,  with 
surviving  Southern  officers.  The  taste  for  collecting 
autographs,  thus  acquired,  grew  upon  him;  and  he  began 
a  diligent  search  for  letters  of  Colonial  and  Revolu- 
tionary characters  of  his  native  State,  not  alone  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  them  in  his  own  portfolios,  but  also 
because  they  might  furnish  material  for  a  full  history 
of  Georgia,  which  he  had  determined  to  write,  and  which 
was  completed  and  published  several  years  before  his 
death.  His  enthusiastic  efforts  in  this  field,  during 
a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  were  rewarded  by  the 
acquisition  of  a  collection  which  embraced  two  complete 
sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
a  set  [nearly  complete]  of  the  Members  of  the  Contin- 
ental Congress,  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
Generals  and  officers  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  a 
number  of  miscellaneous  American  and  foreign  names. 


196  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

After  his  death,  in  1893,  the  more  valuable  part  of 
the  collection  was  disposed  of  at  private  sale;  the  best 
set  of  the  Signers  going  to  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  of 
New  York,  and  the  nearly  complete  series  of  Members 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  which  included  letters  of 
most  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration,  passing  into  the 
hands  of  a  collector  in  Boston. 

The  remainder  of  the  collection  was  sold  at  auction, 
in  Philadelphia,  on  April  24-26,  1894.  The  prices 
obtained  were  very  reasonable,  and  showed  a  great 
falling  off  from  the  high  figures  of  the  Leffingwell  sale. 
An  autograph  signature  ["Lynch"]  of  Thomas  Lynch, 
Jr.,  cut  from  one  of  his  books,  went  for  330,  and  a 
D.  S.  folio  [mortgage]  of  Button  Gwinnett  for  3320. 
Two  folio  letters  signed  of  Gen.  Washington,  written 
in  1789  to  George  Walton,  sold  for  316  each. 

The  Cohen  Collection. 

The  collection  of  Dr.  Joshua  J.  Cohen,  of  Baltimore, 
came  under  the  auctioneer's  hammer,  in  Philadelphia, 
on  Nov.  12  and  13,  1907.  Dr.  Cohen  commenced  its 
formation  some  time  between  the  years  1840  and  1850, 
and  continued  to  add  to  it  until  the  close  of  his  life. 
It  was  almost  exclusively  American;  and  contained  a 
number  of  letters  of  Gen.  Washington  and  his  family,  a 


ElAAOl  DANFORTH 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  197 

complete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, many  members  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
Generals  and  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Presi- 
dents and  their  Cabinets,  Naval  officers.  Governors  of 
Maryland  [from  Colonial  days],  and  miscellaneous 
items.  The  sale  realized  34300;  most  of  the  autographs 
going  at  very  moderate  prices. 

The  Danforth  Collection. 

In  point  of  size  the  collection  of  Elliot  Danforth 
greatly  outdistanced  any  that  had  previously  been  dis- 
persed at  auction;  and  its  importance,  in  the  American 
series,  was  at  least  equal  to  that  of  the  Leffingwell 
collection.  Mr.  Danforth  was  born  in  New  York  on 
March  6,  1850,  and  died  there  on  Jan.  7,  1906.  He  was 
a  lawyer  by  profession,  but  devoted  most  of  his  time  to 
politics,  and  was  chosen  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  an  office  which  he  held  for  two  terms.  While  in 
this  position  he  had  the  opportunity  of  examining, 
and  making  selections  from,  the  immense  correspon- 
dence of  the  Adjutant  General  of  New  York  during 
the  Civil  War;  whereby  he  came  into  possession  of  a 
great  number  of  letters  of  Union  generals.  His  success 
in  this  particular  field  led  him  to  extend  his  attention 
to  all  classes  of  American  autographs;  and  in  the  course 


198  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

of  a  comparatively  few  years  he  amassed,  by  the  ac- 
quisition of  large  numbers  of  public  papers,  as  well  as 
by  exchanges  with  other  collectors  and  liberal  pur- 
chases, the  immense  collection  which,  after  his  death, 
was  sold  at  auction,  in  Philadelphia,  on  various  dates 
in  the  years  1911,  1912,  1913  and  1914. 

Owing  to  its  great  size,  it  was  disposed  of  in  seven 
parts.  The  catalogues  included,  among  the  American 
series.  Colonial  Governors,  the  Albany  Convention  of 
1754,  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  of  1765,  the  Continental 
Congress  [with  many  fine  letters  of  Signers  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence],  Generals  and  officers  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S.,  the  first  Federal  Congress, 
and  authors.  They  also  contained  very  notable  sets 
of  the  Generals  of  the  Civil  War  [both  Union  and  Con- 
federate], the  Peace  Congress  of  1861,  and  of  all  prom- 
inent persons  connected  with  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy; as  well  as  a  very  large  number  of  autograph  doc- 
uments of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  many  miscellaneous 
autographs  [American  and  foreign].  The  set  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
attracted  more  attention  than  any  other  part  of  the 
collection,  is  elsewhere  particularly  noticed.  The  price 
—34600— paid  for  the  D.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1770,  of 
Button  Gwinnett,  was  the  highest  ever  given  for  an 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  199 

autograph  in  an  American  auction  room. 

The  following  items  may  be  mentioned  as  typical 
of  the  most  valuable  letters  in  the  collection : 

Christie^  Gen.  Gabriel  [French  and  Indian  War].  A.  L. 
S.  3  pages  4to,  1757.     Interesting.     $\\S. 

Gage,  Gen.  Thomas.  A.  L.  S.  4  pages  folio,  1765.  In- 
teresting.    3100. 

Greene,  Gen.  NathanaeL  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio,  1781. 
To  Gen.  Lafayette.     3191. 

Montgomery,  Gen.  Richard.  A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1775. 
Military  letter.     3560. 

Paine,  Thomas  [Patriot].  A.  L.  S.  folio,  1783.  To 
Robert  Morris.     3125. 

Penn,  Thomas  [Colonial  Governor  of  Pa.].  A.  L.  S.  7 
pages  4to,  1758.     3105. 

Washington,  George.  A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to,  1785.  To 
James  Madison.     3590. 

Franklin,  Benjamin.  A.  L.  S.  folio,  1772.  To  his 
wife.     3140. 

Grant,  Gen.  U.  S.  A.  L.  S.  4  pages  4to.  Headquarters, 
Jan.  8,  1865.     3220. 

Lincoln,  Abraham.  A.  L.  S.  3  pages  8vo,  1861.  To 
Gov.  Magoffin,  of  Ky.     3975. 

Washington,  George.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio,  1782.  An  im- 
portant letter  to  Gen.  Greene.     3300. 


200  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Washington,  Martha.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1794.     3780. 
Lincoln,  Abraham.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1841.     3137.50. 
Pynchon,  Col.  John  [Governor  of  Springfield,  Mass.]. 

A.  D.  S.  4to,  1656.    3360. 
Herkimer,  Gen,  Nicholas  [Revolutionary  War].     L.  S. 

4to,  1775.    3150. 
Moore,  Alfred  [Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S.].     A.  L.  S. 

2  pages  4to,  1800.     3210. 
Blair,  John  [Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S.].     A.  L.  S. 

4to,  1781.     3200. 
Eliot,   John   [Missionary   to   the   Indians].     A.    D.    S. 

small  4to,  1665.     3330. 
Alden,  John  [Plymouth  pilgrim].     D.   S.  folio,   1663. 

3190. 

The  Hale  Collection. 

John  Mills  Hale,  of  Philipsburg,  Pa.,  devoted  more 
than  fifty  years  of  his  life  to  the  formation  of  a  col- 
lection of  autographs  composed  of  nearly  all  of  the 
American  series  and  a  large  number  of  foreign  letters. 
It  was  sold  at  auction,  in  Philadelphia,  on  Feb.  14  and 
15,  and  June  3,  1913.  The  catalogues  of  the  two  sales 
enumerated  2466  items,  many  of  which  embraced  a 
number  of  autographs.  His  complete  set  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  be- 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  201 

queathed  to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  but  an- 
other set,  nearly  complete,  was  included  in  his  series 
of  the  Members  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

Among  the  more  noteworthy  items,  the  following 
may  be  mentioned: 

Arnoldy  Gen.  Benedict.     L.  S.  4  pages  4to,  1778.     Im- 
portant military  letter.     3260. 
BurgoynCy  Gen.  Sir  John.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1777. 

3150. 
Greene y  Gen.  NathanaeL     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1777. 

365. 
HaUy  Capt.  Nathan  [the  Martyr  Spy].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages 

4to,  1775.    31500. 
Kosciuszkoy   Gen.    Thaddeus.     A.   L.   S.   4   pages   4to. 

Revolutionary  letter.     3235. 
Mercer,  Gen.  Hugh.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1776.     3172. 
Montgomery,    Gen.    Richard.     A.    L.    S.    2   pages   4to. 

Camp,  St.  Johns,  1775.     3280. 
Putnam,  Gen.  Israel.     L.  S.  4to,  1776.     3100- 
Revere,  Paul.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1791.     395. 
Scammel,  Col.  Alexander.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1779. 

350. 
Warren,  Gen.  Joseph.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1775.     3212.50. 
Jones,  John  Paul.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1777.     3400. 
Lynch,  Thomas,  Jr.     Signature  "Lynch"  cut  from  the 

title  page  of  a  book.     3175. 


202  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Morton,  John  [Signer].     D.  S.  4to,  1776.     324. 
Taylor,  George  [Signer].     D.  S.  folio.     352. 
Livingston,    William   [Governor  of  N.   J.].     A.   L.   S. 

folio,  1777.     338. 
Washington,  George.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1785.     3320. 
Adams,  John.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  4to,  1785.     380. 
Lincoln,  Abraham.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  8vo,  1860.     In 

reference  to  his  nomination.     3900. 
Chase,  Samuel  [Signer].     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  folio.     3130. 
Boone,  Daniel  [Pioneer].     A.  D.  S.  folio,  1786.     343. 
Burns,  Robert  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  8vo.     380. 
Byron,  Lord  [Poet].     A.  L.  S.  8vo,  1815.     355. 
Lafayette,  General.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     Valley  Forge,  1778. 

3160. 
Washington,  Martha.     A.  L.  S.  4to.     3650. 
Henry  VIII  [King  of  England].     Vellum  D.  S.  folio, 

1540.     3170. 

The  Thacher  Collection. 

John  Boyd  Thacher,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  was  known, 
for  many  years  prior  to  his  death,  as  one  of  the  leading 
collectors  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a  scholar,  and 
the  author  of  several  valuable  works  on  the  early  his- 
tory of  America.  His  antiquarian  taste  led  him,  in 
early  life,  to  commence  the  acquisition  of  interesting 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  203 

letters  and  manuscripts;  particularly  such  as  fell 
directly  within  the  line  of  his  historical  pursuits.  Hav- 
ing large  pecuniary  resources,  the  steady  prosecution  of 
his  hobby  for  more  than  forty  years  enabled  him  to 
accumulate  a  very  large,  and  remarkably  fine  and  val- 
uable collection  of  letters,  foreign  as  well  as  American; 
in  which  rarities  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  His 
favorite  foreign  series  was  that  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion; which  [it  is  said]  he  had  so  fully  completed  as  to 
make  it  unrivaled  in  the  United  States  and  without  a 
superior  abroad. 

The  collection — excluding  the  French  Revolution 
series — was  sold  at  auction,  in  six  parts,  during  the 
years  1913,  1914  and  1915.  A  tolerably  correct  idea 
of  its  character  and  extent  may  be  had  from  the  fol- 
lowing general  statement  of  the  various  elements  com- 
prised in  it: 

1.  Dutch  Governors  of  New  Netherlands.     Peter  Min- 

uit,  Wm.  Kieft,  Pieter  Stuyvesant,  Wouter  van 
Twiller. 

2.  Early    New    England    and    Massachusetts    Bay. 

William  Bradford,  John  Alden,  Myles  Standish, 
Roger  Williams,  and  many  others. 

3.  Colonial  Governors.    Henry  Sloughter,  Sir  E.  An- 

dros,  Leisler,  Francis  Lovelace,  William  Penn, 
and  many  others. 


204  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

4.  Early  Governors   and  explorers  of  New  France. 

Frontenac,  D'Iberville,  Joliet,  La  Salle,  and 
others. 

5.  Famous  early  celebrities  and  divines. 

6.  Stamp  Act  and  Continental  Congresses. 

7.  Revolutionary  celebrities.     John  Paul  Jones,  Major 

Andre,  Nathan  Hale,  George  and  Martha  Wash- 
ington, Joseph  Warren,  and  many  others. 

8.  Literary  and  historical  celebrities. 

9.  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
10.  Presidents  of  the  U.  S. 

IL  Miscellaneous.     Saint  Vincent  de  Paul,   Ignatius 
Loyola,  Francis  de  Sales,  and  others. 

12.  English  statesmen,  from  Henry  VIII.  to  Charles 

II. 

13.  English   authors.     Sir   Francis   Bacon,    Sir  Thos. 

Browne,  Oliver  Goldsmith,  Thomas  Gray,  Ben 
Jonson,  John  Keats,  John  Locke,  Thomas  Chat- 
terton,  Robert  Burton,  De  Foe,  Dryden,  Byron, 
Burns,  and  many  others. 

14.  European  celebrities. 

15.  Composers.     Bach,     Beethoven,    Gliick,    Handel, 

Haydn,  Mozart,  and  others. 

16.  Celebrated  women.     Lucretia  Borgia,  Bianca  Ca- 

pello,  Madame  de  Maintenon,  and  others. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  205 

17.  English  artists.     Gainsborough,  Hogarth,  Kneller, 
and  others. 


The  Joline  Collection. 

Of  all  the  American  collectors  of  autographs  who 
were  living  in  1913,  few  were  as  well  known  as  Adrien 
H.  Joline.  He  was  a  lawyer,  residing  in  New  York  City; 
and  during  the  larger  part  of  his  long,  active  and  useful 
life  he  devoted  the  hours  that  could  be  spared  from  his 
professional  pursuits  to  the  collection  of  books  and  auto- 
graphs. His  large  scholarship,  his  ability  as  a  writer, 
and  his  love  for  his  hobby  are  shown  in  the  numerous 
works  that  came  from  his  pen;  among  which  his 
"Meditations  of  an  Autograph  Collector"  and  "Rambles 
in  Autograph  Land"  are  charming  specimens  of  the 
way  in  which  a  subject,  somewhat  dry  to  those  who  do 
not  belong  to  the  fraternity  of  collectors,  can  be  made 
interesting  to  the  general  reader.  They  have  been 
aptly  described  as  "characterized  by  humor,  philos- 
ophy, shrewd  observations  of  men  and  events,  deep 
insight  into  political  history  and  social  life,  strong 
human  sympathy,  and  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
best  literature." 

The  years  that  he  gave  to  the  acquisition  of  his 
treasures  made  him,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  pos- 


206  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

sessor  of  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  collections  ever 
formed  in  the  United  States.  It  was  disposed  of  at 
auction,  in  New  York,  in  nine  instalments,  at  various 
dates  between  Dec.  15,  1914,  and  Feb.  24,  1916. 

In  addition  to  a  large  number  of  books  that  were 
extra-illustrated  by  the  insertion  of  many  letters  and 
portraits — some  of  them  containing  such  complete 
series  as  those  of  the  Presidents  of  the  U.  S.  and  the 
Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S. — the  col- 
lection covered  so  wide  a  field,  both  American  and 
foreign,  that  any  detailed  statement  of  its  component 
parts  would  be  out  of  the  question.  All  that  can  be 
said  is  that  it  included,  in  the  American  line,  a  complete 
set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
fine  letters  of  most  of  the  Generals  and  more  prominent 
officers  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  many  letters  of  Gen. 
Washington,  a  number  of  fine  literary  manuscripts  of 
the  most  noted  authors,  etc.,  etc.  In  the  foreign  line, 
sovereigns,  military  and  naval  officers,  authors,  states- 
men, noted  women,  and  Napoleon  and  his  Marshals, 
were  represented  by  most  of  the  leading  names. 

A  few  items,  selected  from  a  large  number  that  are 
of  equal  importance,  will   now  be  specifically  noted, 
to  give  some  indication  of  the  prices  realized: 
Arnold,  Gen.  Benedict.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  folio,  1780. 
3140. 


AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS  1[)7 

Washington,  George.     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1796.     3112.50. 
Washington,  Martha.     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to,  1782.     3159. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter.     D.  S.  large  4to,  1664.     3140. 
Penn,  William.     A.  L.  S.  folio,  1682.     3235. 
Bacon,  Sir  Francis  [Baron  Verulam.     Lord  Chancellor]. 

D.  S.  folio,  1619.     3165. 
Elizabeth  [Queen   of   England].     Vellum  L.  S.  oblong 

folio.     3110. 
Garrick,  David  [Actor].     A.  L.  S.  2  pages  4to.     3105. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver.     D.  S.  large  folio.     3385. 
Hogarth,  William.     D.  S.  folio,  1775.     363. 
Lamb,  Charles  and  Mary.     A.  L.  S.  23^2  pages  4to,  1811. 

3315. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte.     L.  S.  4to,   1812.     To  Marshall 

Grouchy.     3155. 
Richardson,  Samuel  [Novelist].     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  small 

4to,  1753.     380. 
Sterne,   Laurence   [Novelist].     A.   L.   S.    2   pages   4to, 

1764.    3125. 
Thackeray,  William  M.     A.  L.  S.  3  pages  12  mo.,  1857. 

3126. 
Gibber,  Colley  [Actor].     A.  L.  S.  4to,  1753.     345. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Concerning  Public  Collections  of  Autographs. 
I.  EUROPEAN. 

IN  France  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  of  Paris  has, 
probably,  the  largest  number  of  autographs  of 
iirst  importance.  Its  manuscript  department  con- 
tains many  notable  collections  formed  in  centuries 
past  by  distinguished  public  or  private  characters  for 
historical  purposes,  which  passed  to  the  Bibliotheque 
either  by  gift  or  purchase.  In  the  Mazarine  gallery 
of  this  institution  one  may  see  displayed  letters  or 
manuscripts  of  nearly  all  the  names  that  are  noted  in 
French  history,  beginning  with  a  document  bearing 
the  signature  of  John  II.,  surnamed  "Le  Bon,"  who 
ascended  the  French  throne  in  1350,  and  coming  down 
to  modern  times.     Here  are  to  be  found  such  rarities 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  209 

as  the  autographs  of  Charles  V.,  Bertrand  Du  Guesclin, 
Agnes  Sorel,  Montaigne,  Pierre  Corneille,  Moliere,  and 
Jean  de  la  Bruyere;  as  well  as  the  autograph  manu- 
scripts of  Blaise  Pascal's  "Pensees,"  La  Fontaine's 
tragedy  of  "Achille,"  Fenelon's  "Telemaque,"  and 
others  of  great  value. 

The  National  Archives  contain,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  a  wealth  of  autographic  material,  in  which  all  the 
kings  of  France  are  represented  by  charts  or  letters.  The 
oldest  of  these  autographs  is  a  signature  of  king  Dago- 
bert  I.  on  a  diploma  of  the  year  628.  A  handsome  4to 
volume,  published  in  1872  under  the  title  of  "Musee 
des  Archives  Nationales,"  and  illustrated  with  numerous 
facsimiles,  gives  a  detailed  statement  of  the  autographs 
and  manuscripts  in  this  collection. 

Several  of  the  public  libraries  in  Paris,  and  many 
of  those  in  other  parts  of  France,  also  have  consider- 
able collections. 

The  other  countries  of  Continental  Europe  have, 
in  addition  to  their  collections  of  State  papers,  large 
gatherings  of  autographs  in  their  public  libraries. 
The  library  of  Berlin  is  particularly  rich  in  such  pos- 
sessions. 

In  Italy,  the  archives  of  Rome,  Milan,  Florence, 
Venice,  Turin  and  Naples  are  full  of  autographs,  as  are 
the  archives  of  Simancas  in  Spain. 


210  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  libraries  of  Holland,  Belgium  and  Switzerland 
are  not  without  a  considerable  quantity  of  precious 
manuscript  matter. 

In  England,  the  great  depository  of  autographs  is 
the  British  Museum,  in  London.  Its  possessions  in 
this  line  are  unequaled  except,  perhaps,  by  the  Biblio- 
theque  Nationale.  In  addition  to  the  magnificent 
collections  of  Sir  John  Cotton,  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Robert 
Harley  [Earl  of  Oxford],  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  and 
Lord  Egerton,  which  were  acquired  by  gift,  it  has,  for 
hundreds  of  years,  added  to  its  treasures  by  the  pur- 
chase of  letters  or  documents  of  all  important  persons 
whose  autographs  were  lacking;  so  that  there  is  scarcely 
a  single  name  of  prominence,  of  any  nationality  or  any 
modern  time,  which  is  not  now  represented  in  its  man- 
uscript department. 

The  National  Archives  in  the  Public  Record  office 
are,  as  will  naturally  be  taken  for  granted,  of  great 
size  and  importance. 


II.  AMERICAN. 

The  American  Antiquarian  Society. 

The  American  Antiquarian  Society,  located  at  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  was  founded  by  Isaiah  Thomas,  noted  as 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  211 

a  printer  and  publisher,  and  as  the  author  of  a  "History 
of  Printing."  Incorporated  on  Oct.  24,  1812,  it  has 
been  wonderfully  successful  in  its  acquisitions  of  books, 
newspapers  and  manuscripts;  and  it  now  ranks  as  one 
of  the  great  libraries  of  the  country  for  students  of 
American  history  and  allied  subjects.  The  Society's 
"Handbook  of  Information"  states  that  "from  a  few 
groups  of  manuscripts,  chiefly  of  a  local  or  personal 
character,  there  has  succeeded  a  collection  of  over 
35,000  pieces,  largely  national  in  its  scope." 

Cotton  Mather  is  represented  by  nearly  300  letters; 
and  there  are  many,  and  important,  manuscripts  by 
him  and  by  Richard  and  Increase  Mather.  There  is 
much  material  illustrative  of  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  and  a  very  extensive  collection  relating  to  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Included  in  the  latter  are  numer- 
ous military  papers  of  Generals  John  Nixon  and  Wil- 
liam Heath,  and  letters  of  Generals  Washington,  Greene, 
Schuyler,  Stirling,  Gates,  Conway,  Charles  Lee  and 
Arnold.  One  of  the  most  interesting  manuscripts  in 
the  collection  is  the  reply  of  the  garrison  at  West  Point 
to  Washington's  farewell  address,  Nov.  10,  1783. 

There  are  letters  of  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  of  men  who  were  noted  in  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  and  thousands  of  miscellaneous 
letters  and,  manuscripts  of  a  later  date. 


212  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  Library  of  Congress. 

The  character  and  extent  of  the  manuscript  collec- 
tions of  the  Library  of  Congress  are  briefly  stated  in  a 
leaflet  which  has  been  issued  for  the  information  of  the 
public,  from  which  the  following  quotations  are  made: 
"The  Library  is  the  custodian  of  about  600  separate 
collections  of  manuscripts,  varying  in  size  from  col- 
lections which  comprise  only  a  few  documents  to  those 
which  contain  many  thousands.  There  are  at  least 
a  million  separate  manuscripts  in  the  combined  col- 
lections. They  cover  the  whole  field  of  history — 
political,  military,  scientific,  artistic,  religious,  literary, 
social,  and  economic.  For  example,  there  are  the 
papers  of  eleven  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States; 
of  the  Continental  Congress;  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Daniel  Webster,  William  L. 
Marcy,  James  H.  Hammond  (of  S.  C),  and  Edwin  M. 
Stanton;  of  Generals  Sherman,  McClellan,  and  Beaure- 
gard; of  Paul  Jones,  Alexander  Cockburn,  and  Ericsson; 
of  Simon  Newcomb  and  Matthew  F.  Maury;  of  Rev. 
John  Witherspoon  and  Rev.  Moses  Waddell;  of  Louise 
Chandler  Moulton  and  William  Gilmore  Simms;  of 
Dolly  Madison  and  Margaret  Bayard  Smith;  and  the 
account  books  of  plantations  and  old  mercantile  firms. 
.  .  .  The  collections  have  come  to  the  Library,  some 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  213 

by  transfer  from  other  Departments  of  the  Govern- 
ment, but  most  of  them  from  the  descendants  of  the 
historical  characters  to  whom  the  manuscripts  pertain. 
Some  of  the  collections  are  obtained  by  gift,  some  by 
purchase,  and  some  are  deposited,  the  title  remaining 
with  the  depositors." 

From  the  long  list  of  the  more  important  collections 
of  personal  papers — other  than  those  before  mentioned 
— in  the  possession  of  the  Library,  the  following  may  be 
named  as  fairly  representative  of  the  entire  number: 
John  Archdale  [Colonial  Governor],  Gen.  Jacob  Brown 
[War  of  1812],  Aaron  Burr,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Henry 
Clay,  Gen.  George  Clinton  [Revolutionary  War],  Gen. 
James  Clinton  [Revolutionary  War],  John  J.  Crittenden 
[Statesman],  John  Fitch  [Inventor],  Albert  Gallatin, 
Sir  William  Johnson  [French  and  Indian  War],  James 
Kent  [Jurist],  Hugh  McCulloch  [Statesman],  John  Mc- 
Lean [Jurist],  George  Mason  [Statesman],  Commodore 
Edward  Preble,  John  Sherman  [Statesman],  Gen.  Adam 
Stephen  [Revolutionary  War],  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Ly- 
man Trumbull  [Statesman],  Elihu  B.  Washburne 
[Statesman],  Gideon  Welles  [Statesman],  Henry  Wil- 
son [Vice-President],  and  William  Wirt  [Statesman]. 


214  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 

The  manuscript  collections  of  the  Connecticut  His- 
torical   Society   are   extensive    and    important.     They 
cover  the  Colonial   period,   from  an  early  date;  the 
French  and  Indian  War;  the  Revolutionary  War;  and 
they  come  down  to  the  present  day.     Of  the  component 
parts  of  this  large  mass  of  material  a  few,  having  a 
special  interest,  may  be  mentioned  as  illustrative  of  the 
general  character  of  the  collections: 
Correspondence  of  the  Colony  and  State  of  Connec- 
ticut with  other  Colonies  and  with  Congress,  1753- 
1809. 
Deane,  Silas.     Correspondence  of,  1771-1789. 
Fitch,  Gov.  Thomas.     Official  correspondence,  1754- 

1766. 
Greene,  Gen.  Nathanael.    Letters  from  him,  1778-1785. 
Hale,  Capt.  Nathan  [the  Martyr  Spy].     His  diary,  and 

letters  addressed  to  him,  1773-1776. 
Johnson,  William  Samuel.     His  correspondence  from 

1765  to  1790. 
Law,  Gov.  Jonathan.    His  official  correspondence  from 

1741  to  1750. 
Occum,    Samson    [Indian    preacher].      His    correspon- 
dence. 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  215 

Revolutionary  War.  Muster  rolls,  orderly  books,  and 
letters  from  soldiers  and  others  concerning  the  war. 

Talcott,  Gov.  Joseph.  His  official  correspondence  from 
1724  to  1741. 

Trumbull,  Gov.  Jonathan.  Political,  official,  and  per- 
sonal letters,  and  other  papers,  extending  over  nearly 
the  whole  period  of  his  life. 

Trumbull,  Col.  Jonathan,  Jr.  Military  letters  while 
Paymaster  General  [1775-8],  personal  and  business 
letters  [1773-1809],  letters  from  members  of  Congress 
[1790-1809],  and  letters  from  the  U.  S.  Government 
[1778-1809]. 

Wadsworth,  Col.  Jeremiah  [member  of  the  Continental 
Congress].     His  correspondence  from  1777  to  1803. 

Williams,  William  [Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence].    His  correspondence  from  1760  to  1800. 

\\  olcott,  Oliver  [Secretary  of  the  treasury  and  Governor 
of  Conn.].  Letters  to  him  from  his  father  [one  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence],  Gen. 
Washington,  John  Adams,  Alexander  Hamilton, Oliver 
Ellsworth,  Geo.  Cabot,  Fisher  Ames,  and  many  others 
of  the  leading  men  of  his' day. 

The  Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia. 

The  manuscript  collections  of   the   Drexel    Insti- 
tute contain  the  manuscripts  and  autographs  collected 


216  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

by  the  late  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  and  presented  by 
him,  during  his  lifetime,  to  the  Library.  They  con- 
sist of  valuable  original  manuscripts  of  modern  au- 
thors, and  autograph  letters  of  noted  persons.  Among 
the  treasures  of  the  collection  are  the  original  manu- 
script of  Dickens's  "Our  Mutual  Friend,"  bound  in 
two  volumes,  closely  written,  as  it  was  sent  to  the 
printer,  with  innumerable  erasures  and  insertions; 
an  autograph  manuscript  of  Thackeray's  "Lecture  on 
George  IIL,"  handsomely  bound  and  extra-illustrated 
with  portraits  and  original  drawings  and  water-colors 
by  Thackeray  (the  identical  copy  from  which  he  read 
when  he  lectured  in  America);  the  original  manuscript 
of  Poe's  "Murders  in  the  Rue  Morgue";  of  Lamb's 
"Essay  on  Witches  and  other  Night  Fears,"  signed 
"Elia";  of  Bremer's  "Hertha";  of  Godwin's  "Cloudes- 
ley,  a  Novel";  of  Andre's  "The  Cow  Chace,"  and  of 
many  other  important  works.  The  autograph  letters 
comprise,  among  others,  a  set  of  letters  from  the 
Presidents  of  the  United  States;  the  Pinkerton  corres- 
pondence (in  four  volumes),  including  letters  from  many 
noted  Englishmen,  of  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  to  John  Pinkerton;  and  collections  of  miscel- 
laneous letters  written  by  English  and  American  au- 
thors and  statesmen. 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  217 

The  Maine  Historical  Society. 

In  addition  to  a  large  quantity  of  local  historical 
matter  in  the  manuscript  department  of  the  Maine  His- 
torical Society,  its  collections  include  such  important 
papers  as  those  of  Gen.  Henry  Knox,  Sir  William  Pep- 
perell,  Dr.  Silvester  Gardiner,  Gov.  William  King,  and 
the  Longfellow  family.  The  letter-book  of  Benedict 
Arnold  during  his  expedition  to  Quebec,  presented  to 
the  Society  by  Aaron  Burr  in  1831,  is  an  interesting 
relic  of  the  American  Revolution. 

In  point  of  value  and  general  attractiveness,  the 
collection  formed  by  the  late  Dr.  John  S.  H.  Foge.  of 
South  Boston,  and  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  Society, 
overshadows  all  the  other  manuscript  material  in  its 
possession.  It  numbers  between  four  and  five  thousand 
papers,  arranged  in  fifty-nine  volumes,  and  includes 
letters  and  documents  of  Colonial  Governors,  Generals 
of  the  Revolution,  members  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  most  of  the  noted  men  and  women  of  America, 
in  all  ranks  of  life,  from  Colonial  days  to  modern  times. 
Its  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
is  complete  and  very  fine. 

Foreign  autographs  are  represented  by  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  Queen  Elizabeth,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Napo- 


218  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

leon  Bonaparte,  William  Harvey  [discoverer  of  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood],  John  Keats  [a  love-letter  to 
Fanny  Brawn],  Jane  Austen,  Charlotte  Bronte,  and 
many  more  who  are  noted  in  history  or  literature. 

The  Missouri  Historical  Society. 

This  Society  has,  among  its  numerous  manuscript 
collections,  many  letters  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  a  com- 
plete set  of  letters  of  the  Presidents  of  the  U.  S.,  and  a 
quantity  of  miscellaneous,  political,  and  literary  papers 
[known  as  the  W.  K.  Bixby  Collection]. 

Its  most  important  historical  manuscripts  are  the 
following  named: 

Spanish  Archives,  1769-1805,  relating  to  the  history  of 
Louisiana. 

St.  Louis  Archives,  French,  Spanish,  and  English. 
1766-1809. 

St.  Genevieve  Archives,  1746-1855. 

Francois  Valle  collection,  St.  Genevieve,  1791-1847. 

New  Madrid  Archives,  1791-1804. 

The  papers  of  Charles  Dehault  Delassus,  the  last  Span- 
ish Governor  of  Upper  Louisiana. 

Mexican  War  papers. 

Papers  of  Senator  Thomas  H.  Benton. 


PUBLIC  COLLECT  IONS  219 

The  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society. 

The  manuscripts  in  the  possession  of  this  Society 
are  chiefly  of  an  historical  nature.  Its  most  important 
collections  are  the  twenty-five  volumes  of  letters  of 
Daniel  Webster  and  the  four  volumes  of  letters  and 
papers  of  Gen.  John  Sullivan,  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
The  Hibbard  papers,  which  relate  in  part  to  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  and  in  part  are  of  an  autographic  nature, 
consist  of  letters  of  distinguished  men,  mostly  of  this 
country,  for  the  last  two  hundred  years.  There  are, 
in  addition,  numerous  small  collections  and  many  mis- 
cellaneous manuscripts. 

The  New  York  Historical  Society. 

The  archives  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society 
contain  fifty-eight  volumes  of  original  manuscripts 
covering  the  Colonial  period,  represented  in  the  Col- 
den,  de  Peyster,  Lloyd,  and  Leggett  papers.  The 
Revolutionary  period  embraces  the  Gates,  Lamb, 
Steuben,  Stirling,  Reed,  McDougall,  Duer,  Stewart,  and 
McLane  papers,  and  a  collection  of  Orderly  books. 
It  also  contains  the  correspondence,  in  nine  volumes,  of 


220  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

James  Duane.  There  are,  in  addition,  many  papers 
of  a  later  period,  included  in  the  Gallatin,  Hone,  Bar- 
clay, King,  and  Thomas  papers. 

The  New  York  Public  Library. 

The  manuscript  collections  In  the  New  York  Public 
Library  are,  beyond  question,  much  larger  and  more 
important  than  those  in  any  other  Public  Library  in 
the  United  States. 

The  Emmet  collection  alone  contains  10,800  pieces, 
embracing  complete  series  of  the  Albany  Convention 
of  1754,  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  of  1765,  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  of  1774,  the  entire  Continental  Con- 
gress, the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
the  Signers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  Gen- 
erals of  the  American  Revolution,  Washington  and 
his  military  family,  the  Annapolis  Convention,  the 
Federal  Convention,  and  the  first  Federal  Adminis- 
tration. Some  of  these  series — especially  those  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence — are  either 
unrivaled  or  unexcelled  in  any  other  collection. 

In  the  field  of  American  literature  the  Library  has 
the  extensive  correspondence  of  Evert  A.  and  George 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  221 

L.  Duyckinck,  which  includes  letters  from  nearly  every 
American  literary  character  from  1840  to  1855.  In 
English  literature,  it  has  one  or  more  letters  of  Robert 
Burns,  William  Cowper,  Oliver  Goldsmith,  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  Alexander  Pope,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  Robert 
Southey.  It  also  has  the  good  fortune  to  be  the  pos- 
sessor of  an  autograph  letter  of  the  poet  Milton, 
written  to  his  friend  Carlo  Dait,  of  Florence.  This 
great  rarity  was,  in  connection  with  some  other  material 
relating  to  Alilton,  purchased  from  B.  Quaritch,  in 
1882,  for  £42. 

The  Library  also  owns  the  following  named  sepa- 
rate collections: 

The  Rich  collection,  of  about  142  volumes,  relat- 
ing to  Spanish-America. 

The  Chalmers  Collection,  of  25  volumes,  contain- 
ing material  for  a  history  of  the  revolt  in  the  American 
Colonies. 

The  Hardwicke  collection,  of  140  volumes,  relating 
to  English  history  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies. 

The  Bancroft  collection,  consisting  of  original  pa- 
pers and  transcripts  collected  by  George  Bancroft  for 
his  historical  work;  and  comprising  the  extensive  cor- 
respondence of  Samuel  Adams  [one  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence],  the  letters  and  papers 


222  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

relating  to  the  German  auxiliary  troops  in  the  American 
Revolution,  the  papers  of  Joseph  Hawley  [the  patriot, 
of  Northampton,  Mass.],  and  numerous  letters  of  dis- 
tinguished Americans. 

The  Myers  collection,  formed  by  Col.  T.  Bailey 
Myers,  contains  about  1600  pieces,  chiefly  autograph 
letters  and  documents  of  the  Colonial  and  Revolution- 
ary periods.  It  includes  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  Members  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  distinguished 
Englishmen  and  Frenchmen,  Hessian  officers,  and  the 
papers  of  Gen.  Daniel  Morgan. 

The  Ford  collection,  made  by  Gordon  L.  Ford  and 
his  sons,  between  1840  and  1898,  is  of  a  varied  character. 
It  is  composed  mainly  of  autographs  of  Americans  of 
the  Revolutionary  period  and  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  contains  about  60,000  loose  pieces  and  some  bound 
volumes. 

The  Schuyler  Revolutionary  papers  number  about 
2430  items,  consisting  of  letters  to  Gen.  Philip  Schuyler 
from  military  officers,  members  of  Congress,  Committees 
of  Safety,  etc.,  1761-1802.  The  greater  part  of  them 
relate  to  the  conduct  of  the  war  in  the  Northern  De- 
partment, 1775-1777. 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  223 

The  New  York  State  Library. 

The  manuscript  department  of  the  New  York  State 
Library  constituted,  prior  to  the  fire  which  worked 
such  destruction  to  its  contents,  "the  largest  and  most 
important  body  of  archives  in  the  possession  of  the 
State.  The  manuscripts  were  acquired  by  gift,  by  pur- 
chase, and  by  transfer  from  various  State  offices,  during 
a  period  of  sixty-five  years,  and  embraced  practically 
all  that  had  been  preserved  of  the  executive,  legislative, 
and  judicial  records  of  the  administration  of  the  province 
under  Dutch  regime  [1630-1664,  1673-4];  the  executive 
and  legislative  papers,  other  than  land  papers,  of  the 
English  Colonial  administration;  the  executive  and 
legislative  papers  of  the  Provincial  administration 
during  the  Revolution;  the  correspondence  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson,  and  of  Governors  George  Clinton  and 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins." 

Notwithstanding  the  serious  losses  incurred  by  the 
fire — principally  in  the  records  of  the  English  Colonial 
period,  the  Sir  William  Johnson  papers,  the  Clinton 
papers,  and  the  Tompkins  papers — a  vast  amount  of 
valuable  manuscript  material  remains.  It  includes  a 
series  of  letters  and  documents  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  Andre  papers  [13  manu- 
scripts], Washington's  opinion  of  the  surviving  Generals 


224  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


of  the  Revolution  [written  in  the  winter  of  1791-2, 
after  St.  Clair's  defeat],  draft  of  Washington's  Farewell 
Address  [written  in  the  Spring  of  1796],  and  draft  of 
Lincoln's  first  Emancipation  Proclamation  [Sept.  22, 
1862]. 

There  are  61  volumes  of  New  York  Colonial  manu- 
scripts, illustrating  the  civil  and  political  history  of  the 
Colony  from  its  first  settlement  to  the  time  of  the 
American  Revolution;  13  volumes  of  the  public  and 
private  papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson;  and  10  volumes 
of  the  papers  of  General  [and  Governor]  George  Clinton. 
Among  miscellaneous  manuscripts  there  are  papers 
relating  to  the  household  affairs  of  President  Wash- 
ington in  1790,  British  Colonial  army  papers  and  ac- 
counts, autograph  letters  of  American  officials  and 
authors,  and  a  large  collection  of  papers  of  Ethan  Allen, 
Ira  Allen,  and  other  Vermonters  [known  as  the  Stevens 
papers]. 


The  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  manuscript  department  of  the  Historical  So- 
ciety of  Pennsylvania  greatly  exceeds,  in  size  and  im- 
portance, that  of  any  other  Historical  Society  in  the 
United  States.     It  contains  over  3,000  volumes  of  let- 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  225 

ters  and  documents,  and  thousands  of  loose  papers; 
aggregating  a  total  of  not  less  than  500,000  items,  and 
probably  nearly  twice  that  number. 

The  Penn  manuscripts  are  contained  in  210  of  these 
volumes;  which  include  234  autograph  letters  or  docu- 
ments of  William  Penn,  160  of  them  being  full  auto- 
graph letters  signed. 

The  collection  is  particularly  rich  in  autographs  of 
Gen.  Washington,  having  128  A.  L.  S.  folio  or  4to,  185 
L.  S.  folio  or  4to,  6  A.  D.  S.,  9  autograph  documents 
unsigned,  and  25  D.  S. — a  total  of  353.  It  also  con- 
tains Washington's  pocket  diary  of  the  weather  from 
January  to  June,  1796;  entirely  in  his  handwriting. 

Of  letters  and  documents  of  Benjamin  Franklin 
there  are,  in  the  collection,  42  A.  L.  S.  folio  or  4to,  and 
160  A.  D.  S.,  L.  S.,  D.  S.,  and  unsigned  autograph  docu- 
ments. 

The  Wayne  collection  comprises  over  2000  letters 
and  drafts  of  letters  of  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne,  covering 
the  entire  period  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  his 
campaign  against  the  Western  Indians. 

Among  the  papers  of  James  Wilson,  a  Signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  there  is  the  original 
draft  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  five  volumes  of  the  papers  of  Thomas  McKean 
[a  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence]  contain 


226  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

letters  from  Washington,  Franklin,  and  many  other 
Revolutionary  statesmen  and  soldiers. 

The  Joel  R.  Poinsett  papers  contain  much  of  his 
correspondence  with  Andrew  Jackson  during  the  Nul- 
lification period. 

The  correspondence  of  James  Buchanan,  extending 
from  1813  to  1868,  contains  a  great  number  of  letters 
of  men  who  were  prominent  in  public  life  during  those 
years. 

The  Dreer,  Etting,  Conarroe,  and  other  collections, 
furnish  letters  and  documents  of  all  the  noted  men  of 
the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  periods.  The  Dreer 
collection  alone  numbers  about  15,000  autograph 
letters  and  documents,  covering  the  entire  field  of 
American  history;  and  including,  in  its  treasures, 
hundreds  of  letters  of  British  and  Continental  celebri- 
ties, of  all  modern  periods  and  in  all  the  walks  of  life. 
The  British  literary  series  is  especially  full,  from  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  to  the  twentieth  century;  and  con- 
tains, among  other  gems,  a  D.  S.  of  the  poet  Milton. 

The  Society  has  two  complete  sets  of  the  Signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  another  set  complete 
with  the  exception  of  Lynch,  and  two  others  that  are 
complete  with  the  exception  of  Lynch  and  Gwinnett. 
It  has  complete  sets  of  the  Albany  Convention  and  the 
Federal  Convention.      The  Stamp  Act  Congress  lacks 


m 


FERDINAND    |.  DREIiR 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  111 

one   name  only;   and   the   Continental   Congress   and 
Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War  are  almost  complete. 


The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

The  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  has  about 
200,000  manuscripts,  which  deal  with  the  history  of 
the  Colony  and  State  from  1636  to  the  present  time. 
The  principal  series  are  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  manuscripts,  the  Foster  papers,  the  Moses 
Brown  papers,  the  Greene  papers,  the  military  papers, 
the  Harris  papers,  the  Champlin  papers,  and  the 
Channing-Ellery  papers. 


The  Virginia  Historical  Society. 

The  Virginia  Historical  Society  has,  in  its  possession, 
a  number  of  interesting  collections  relating  to  the  Co- 
lonial and  Revolutionary  history  of  the  State;  the  most 
important  of  which  are  the  Philip  Ludwell,  the  Ran- 
dolph, the  Lee,  and  the  Campbell  papers,  and  those 
relating  to  the  Custis  family. 

It  is  specially  rich  in  letters  of  Presidents  Jefferson, 
Madison,  and  Monroe;  of  Edmund  Pendleton;  of 
Generals  Lafayette  and  Knox;  of  Chief  Justice  John 


228  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Marshall;  of  the  Lee  families;  and  of  the  British  General 
William  Phillips,  who  was  a  prisoner  of  war,  in  com- 
mand of  the  "Convention  troops,"  at  Charlottesville, 
Va.  It  probably  owns  more  letters  of  Gen.  Washington 
than  any  other  Historical  Society  in  the  United  States, 
with  the  single  exception  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania. 

The  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin. 

This  Society  has  an  unusually  large  and  rich  col- 
lection of  manuscripts,  embracing  hundreds  of  volumes 
of  letters,  documents,  etc.,  that  have  special  reference 
to  the  history  of  Wisconsin  and  to  its  military  history 
during  the  Civil  War. 

The  Lyman  C.  Draper  manuscript  collection,  which 
is  probably  the  most  important  part  of  the  treasures 
of  the  Society,  alone  consists  of  469  folio  volumes.  It 
comprises  six  volumes  of  data  relative  to  the  Mecklen- 
burg declaration  of  independence;  while  other  volumes 
contain  early  manuscripts  relative  to  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Illinois,  Kentucky,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  King's  Moun- 
tain. The  wealth  of  historical  material  laboriously 
gathered  by  Dr.  Draper  during  the  greater  portion  of 
his  life  baffles  description  in  any  short  notice. 


PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS  229 

While  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Society  much  atten- 
tion was  given  to  the  collection  of  autographs.  "As  a  re- 
sult the  Society  has  several  valuable  series.  Most  note- 
worthy are  the  two  containing  the  autographs  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Constitution.  Another  interesting  set 
is  that  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Old  Congress.  The 
Society  also  possesses  the  autographs  of  most  of  the 
Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  United  States,  of 
many  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
of  a  large  number  of  Kentucky  pioneers.  It  has  also 
received,  from  many  sources,  a  large  number  of  auto- 
graphs of  prominent  men  in  America   and   Europe." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

On  the  Migration  and  the  Pedigrees  of  Auto- 
graphs. 

THE  passage  of  important  autograph  letters 
and  documents  from  one  collection  to  another 
prompts  a  few  remarks  on  what,  in  the 
heading  of  this  chapter,  is  called  the  migra- 
tion of  autographs.  When  we  learn,  in  a  general  way, 
that  many  of  the  great  collections  formed  in  years 
gone  by  and  dispersed  after  the  death  of  their  respect- 
ive owners,  contained  specimens  of  names  that  are 
now  seldom  met  with  or  are  practically  unobtainable, 
we  are  apt  to  conclude  that  the  rarity  of  these  names 
has  been  exaggerated.  This  belief,  however,  quickly 
disappears  when  we  discover  that,  not  infrequently, 
the  identical  letter  or  document  has  traveled  from  col- 
lection to  collection,  taking  its  place,  in  turn,  in  several 
of  them.     Thus,  a  letter  of  Andre  Chenier,  which  in 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  231 

1827  was  sold  for  20  francs  95  centimes,  and  which 
had  become  part  of  the  great  Fillon  collection,  passed 
in  succession  into  the  noted  collections  of  Alfred  Bovet 
and  Alexander  Cohn,  and  was  disposed  of,  after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Cohn,  for  the  sum  of  780  marks,  or  more 
than  forty-five  times  the  price  it  had  brought  in  1827, 
To  one  who  does  not  trace  the  lineage  of  letters  it  might 
seem  as  though  four  different  letters  of  Chenier  had 
been  sold,  in  the  few  collections  named,  since  the  year 
1827,  and  that  this  autograph  could  not,  therefore, 
be  rare;  whereas,  in  point  of  fact,  a  single  letter,  only, 
was  sold  as  it  journeyed  from  one  home  to  another. 

The  catalogue  of  the  Tremont  collection  has,  as  one 
of  its  important  items,  a  sketch  in  ink,  by  the  great 
painter  Raphael,  of  two  heads  of  horses,  with  the  arms 
of  men,  containing  five  lines  in  his  handwriting,  with 
the  date  1510.  The  following  note  is  appended: 
"This  drawing  formed  part  of  the  collection  of  Prince 
de  Ligne.  It  then  passed  into  the  collection  of  Comte 
de  Fries;  thence  to  that  of  Prof.  Bohm,  of  Vienna; 
and  lastly  into  that  of  M.  Donnadieu,  who  had  bought 
it  from  a  Mons.  Hertz,  paying  1000  francs  for  it.  At 
the  Donnadieu  sale  in  London  it  was  bought  by  Baron 
de  Tremont."  Here  we  have  six  migrations  of  the 
same  paper. 

It  would  be  very  easy,  though  tiresome,  to  multiply 


232  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

instances  of  this  kind.  The  fact,  however,  should  be 
noted,  that  a  lineage  like  that  named  in  the  two  cases 
cited,  where  the  stamp  of  genuineness  has  been  so 
firmly  fastened  upon  the  letter,  gives  the  paper  addi- 
tional value.  The  best  known  dealers  in  France — 
the  Charavay  family — fully  recognize  this  fact;  and 
it  has  been  their  custom,  for  many  years  past,  in  the 
preparation  of  catalogues,  to  name,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  sources  from  which  the  letters  were  obtained. 

The  poet  Southey  says :  "A  book  is  the  more  valu- 
able to  me  when  I  know  to  whom  it  has  belonged,  and 
through  what  'scenes  and  changes'  it  has  passed.  I 
would  have  its  history  recorded  in  the  fly-leaf;  and  I  am 
sorry  when  I  see  the  name  of  a  former  owner  obliterated 
in  a  book,  or  the  plate  of  his  arms  defaced."  If  he  had 
been  writing  about  autographs,  instead  of  books, 
would  he  not  have  said  that  an  autograph  would  be 
more  valuable  to  him  "when  he  knew  to  whom  it  had 
belonged  and  through  what  scenes  and  changes  it  had 
passed"? 

No  apology  is  needed  for  quoting  the  following 
beautiful  passage  from  Mr.  Frederick  R.  MacDonald's 
entertaining  brochure  entitled  "In  a  Nook  with  a 
Book."  His  words  about  the  feeling  of  the  book- 
lover  towards  his  treasures  are  equally  true  of  the  feeling 
the  autograph-lover  has  for  the  personal  memorials  he 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  233 

has  gathered.  "I  have,"  he  says,  "a  special  affection 
for  a  volume  that  comes  to  me  at  second,  or  at  twentieth, 
hand.  No  possessions  that  our  predecessors  have  left 
behind  them  are  so  truly  a  part  of  themselves,  or  link 
us  so  directly  with  those  who  have  joined  'the  choir 
invisible,'  as  the  books  they  once  handled  and  read. 
We  are  all  of  us  moved,  more  or  less,  at  sight  of  the 
personal  relics  of  the  illustrious  dead — the  mouldering 
helmet  of  the  Black  Prince,  Newton's  telescope,  Nel- 
son's sword,  Wesley's  teapot,  and  the  like.  I  have 
seen  the  visitor  visibly  affected  at  sight  of  a  hero's 
cocked  hat,  or  wig,  or  snuff  box  in  the  glass  case  of  a 
museum.  The  lifeless  thing,  with  no  touch  of  grace 
or  beauty  in  it,  helps  the  imagination.  The  past  is 
brought  back,  and  that  which  has  long  been  dead  is  for 
the  moment  quickened  to  something  like  life.  But  a 
man's  books  will  bring  him  nearer  to  us  than  his  old 
clothes  or  trinkets  can.  A  book  that  has  served  the 
studies,  or  helped  the  devotion,  or  furnished  the  rec- 
reation of  a  once  living  man  or  woman,  is  itself  almost 
a  living  thing,  with  human  memories  and  associations 
lastingly  Inwrought.  Your  book-lover  knows  and  feels 
all  this.  When  he  handles  an  old  book  he  has  an  eye 
for  former  owners'  names,  for  inscriptions,  for  mar- 
ginalia, for  notes  of  any  kind  suggesting  human  per- 
sonality— in  some  cases  a  recognizable  personality,  but 


234  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

for  the  most  part  one  of  which  a  faint  and  shadowy 
perception  is  all  that  is  possible.  I  have  volumes  on 
my  shelves  that  have  had  a  history — that  much  is 
plain — and  they  drop  hints,  so  to  speak,  of  the  places 
they  have  lived  in  and  the  company  they  have  kept. 
It  is  impossible  to  question  them,  as  I  have  often  wished 
to  do,  or  at  least  to  get  an  answer  to  one's  questions. 
They  are  reserved,  and,  like  people  we  have  met,  never 
speak  freely  of  their  past,  but  by  an  allusion  now  and 
again  they  give  glimpses  of  it  that  one  makes  a  note  of." 

While  a  letter  is  no  more  gifted  with  the  power  of 
speech  than  is  a  book,  there  is,  nevertheless,  much  that 
it  can  tell  to  one  who  seeks  to  learn  its  biography  in  a 
spirit  of  affection  for  its  voiceless  body.  By  way  of 
illustration  let  us  take  a  very  remarkable  letter  of  the 
unfortunate  king  of  England  known  in  history  as  "the 
Royal  Martyr."  It  was  written  to  the  Marquis  of 
Ormond,  his  commander  in  Ireland,  just  after  the  dis- 
astrous defeat  of  the  king's  main  army  at  Naseby,  and 
bears  date  July  31,  1645. 

Any  one  who  reads  the  letter  with  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  this  unfortunate  Alonarch's  distinguishing 
characteristics,  and  of  the  forlorn  state  of  his  cause  at 
this  time,  can  easily  form,  in  imagination,  a  picture  of 
him  as,  with  a  heavy  heart  and  intense  distress  of  mind, 
he  wrote  these  words. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  23S 

Cardif  31  July  1645 
Ormond,  it  hath  pleased  God,  by  many  successive 
misfortunes,  to  reduce  my  affaires  of  late  from  a  very 
prosperous  condition,  to  so  low  an  eb,  as  to  be  a  perfect 
tryel  of  all  mens'  integrities  to  me,  and  you  being  a 
person  whom  I  consider  as  most  entyrly  and  generously 
resolved  to  stand  and  fall  with  your  King,  I  doe  prin- 
cipally rely  upon  you  for  your  utermost  assistance  in 
my  present  hazards.  I  have  comanded  Digby  to 
acquainte  you  at  large  with  all  particulars  of  my  con- 
dition, what  I  have  to  hope,  trust  too,  or  feare,  wherein 
you  will  fynde,  that  if  my  expectation  of  relife  out  of 
Irland  be  not  in  some  good  measure,  and  speedely 
answered,  I  am  lykely  to  be  reduced  to  great  extremi- 
ties. I  hope  some  of  those  expresses  I  sent  you,  since 
my  misfortune  by  the  Battaile  of  Nazeby,  ar  come  to 
you,  and  am  therfor  confident  that  you  ar  in  a  good 
forwardness  for  the  sending  over  to  me  a  considerable 
supply  of  Men,  Artillery,  and  Amunition.  All  that  I 
have  to  add  is,  that  the  necessety  of  your  speedy  per- 
forming them,  is  made  much  more  pressing  by  new 
disasters,  so  that  I  absolutely  command  you  [what 
hazard  soever  that  Kingdome  may  run  by  it]  personally 
to  bring  up  all  the  Forces,  of  what  sort  soever  you  can 
draw  from  thence,  and  leave  the  Government  there 
[during  your  absence]  in  the  fittest  hands  that  you  shall 


236  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

judge  to  discharge  it,  for  I  may  not  want  you  heere 
to  comand  those  forces  which  will  be  brought  from 
thence,  and  such  as,  from  hence,  shall  be  joyned  to 
them.  But  you  must  not  understande  this,  as  a  per- 
mission for  you  to  grant  to  the  Irish  [in  case  they  will 
not  otherwais  have  a  Peace]  anything  more  in  matter 
of  Religion  than  what  I  have  alowed  you  allready, 
except  only,  in  some  convenient  Parishes,  where  the 
much  greater  number  ar  Papists,  I  give  you  power  to 
permitt  them  to  have  some  places,  which  they  may  use 
as  Chapells  for  theire  Devotions,  if  there  be  no  other 
impediment  for  obtaining  a  Peace,  but  I  will  rather 
chuse  to  suffer  all  extremities,  than  ever  to  abandon 
my  Religion,  and  particularly  ether  to  English  or  Irish 
Rebels,  to  which  effect  I  have  comanded  Digby  to 
wryt  to  their  Agents  that  were  employed  hither,  giving 
you  power  to  cause  deliver,  or  suppresse  the  letter,  as 
you  shall  judge  best  for  my  services.  To  conclude,  if 
the  Irish  shall  so  unworthily  take  advantage  of  my 
weake  condition,  as  to  presse  me  to  that  which  I  cannot 
grant  with  a  safe  Conscience,  and  withoute  it  to  reject 
a  Peace,  I  comand  you,  if  you  can,  to  procure  a 
further  Cessation,  if  not,  to  make  what  divisions  you 
can  among  them,  and  rather  leave  it  to  the  chance  of 
Warr  betweene  them,  and  those  Forces  which  you  have 
not  power  to  draw  to  my  assistance,  then  to  give  my 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  237 

consent  to  any  such  allowance  of  Popery,  as  must 
evidently  bring  destruction  to  that  Profession  which, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  I  shall  ever  maintaine  through 
all  extremities.  I  know,  Ormond,  that  I  impose  a 
very  hard  Taske  upon  you,  but  if  God  prosper  me, 
you  will  be  a  happy  and  glorious  subject;  if  otherwais, 
you  will  perishe,  nobly  and  generously,  with  and  for 

him  who  is 

your  constant  reall  faithfuU  Frend, 

Charles  R. 

This  letter  has  been  one  of  the  gems  in  several 
notable  collections.  We  first  hear  of  it  as  belonging 
to  a  Mr.  Baker,  who  had  many  other  letters  of  historical 
importance.  When  his  collection  was  sold  in  the  year 
1855,  Mr.  John  Young  became  its  purchaser  at  the 
price  of  £70.  In  1869  Mr.  Young's  autographs  were 
disposed  of;  and  the  letter  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Addington,  who  paid  £80  for  it.  In  1876,  at  the 
sale  of  the  Addington  collection,  it  was  purchased  by 
Mr.  Morrison  for  £69  and  had  a  place  among  his 
splendid  manuscript  possessions  until,  on  their  dis- 
persal in  December,  1917,  it  was  sold  to  Quaritch  for 
£160.     Where  will  its  next  home  be.^* 

Many  other  letters  could  tell  stories  of  extreme 
historical  or  personal   interest.     As  an  additional  il- 


238  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

lustration  of  the  way  in  which  they  can  speak  to  one 
who  loves  to  learn  their  full  biographies,  a  letter  of  the 
poet  Keats  to  his  betrothed,  Fanny  Brawne,  may  be 
taken. 

On  July  8,  1819 — shortly  after  his  engagement  to 
Miss  Brawne,  and  about  nineteen  months  before  his 
death  in  Italy — he  writes  to  her: 

My  Sweet  Girl : 

Your  letter  gave  me  more  delight  than  any- 
thing in  the  world  but  yourself  could  do;  indeed  I  am 
almost  astonished  that  my  absent  one  should  have 
that  luxurious  power  over  my  senses  which  I  feel. 
Even  when  I  am  not  thinking  of  you  I  receive  your 
influence  and  a  tenderer  nature  stealing  upon  me.  All 
my  thoughts,  my  unhappiest  days  and  nights  have, 
I  find,  not  at  all  cured  me  of  my  love  of  Beauty,  but 
made  it  so  intense  that  I  am  miserable  that  you  are 
not  with  me.  ...  I  never  knew  before  what  such 
a  love  as  you  have  made  me  feel,  was.  I  did  not  be- 
lieve in  it;  my  Fancy  was  afraid  of  it,  lest  it  should 
burn  me  up.  But  if  you  will  fully  love  me,  though 
there  may  be  some  fire  it  will  not  be  more  than  we  can 
bear  when  moistened  and  bedewed  with  Pleasures. 
...  I  would  never  see  anything  but  Pleasure  in  your 
eyes,  love  on  your  lips,  and  Happiness  in  your  steps. 


'/  ,j^J:lx.    (^^    do    c^^^Ji   uu    en  to    ^<f  eouu/iLc 

j^L.  f-  '7.  -^^  --i-"  i:tt  tit 

!/ ,ji  .u.  A4  "'^^  -""-  ^"-^^  ; 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  239 

.  .  .  Why  may  I  not  speak  of  your  Beauty,  since 
without  that  I  could  never  have  lov'd  you.  I  can  not 
conceive  any  beginning  of  such  love  as  I  have  for  you 
but  Beauty.  There  may  be  a  sort  of  love  for  which, 
without  the  least  sneer  at  it,  I  have  the  highest  respect 
and  can  admire  it  in  others:  but  it  has  not  the  richness, 
the  bloom,  the  full  form,  the  enchantment,  of  love 
after  my  own  heart.  So  let  me  speak  of  your  Beauty, 
though  to  my  own  endangering,  if  you  could  be  so 
cruel  to  me  as  to  try  elsewhere  its  Power.  You  say 
you  are  afraid  I  shall  think  you  do  not  love  me.  In 
saying  this  you  make  me  ache  the  more  to  be  near  you. 
I  am  at  the  diligent  use  of  my  faculties  here.  I  do  not 
pass  a  day  without  sprawling  some  blank  verse  or 
tagging  some  rhymes;  and  here  I  must  confess  that 
[since  I  am  on  that  subject]  I  love  you  the  more  in  that 
I  believe  you  have  liked  me  for  my  own  sake  and  for 
nothing  else.  I  have  met  with  women  whom  I  really 
think  would  like  to  be  married  to  a  Poem  and  to  be 
given  away  by  a  Novel.  ...  I  kiss'd  your  writing 
over  in  the  hope  you  had  indulg'd  me  by  leaving  a 
trace  of  honey.  What  was  your  dream?  Tell  it  me 
and  I  will  tell  you  the  interpretation  thereof. 

Ever  yours  my  love! 
John  Keats. 


240  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

As  we  read  the  words  that  speak  the  strength  of  his 
love,  our  hearts  go  out  to  him  in  deepest  sympathy. 
We  are  reminded  that  consumption  had  carried  oif 
his  brother,  and  had  laid  its  fatal  hold  upon  him;  that 
his  fine  literary  work  did  not  earn  him  a  living.  We 
recall  the  fact  that  he  well  knew  his  marriage  with  Miss 
Brawne  could  not  take  place  unless  he  could  overcome 
both  his  disease  and  his  poverty.  We  are  filled  with 
indignation  at  the  merciless  and  cruel  criticisms  of  the 
reviewers  of  that  day — criticisms  that  sorely  wounded 
his  gentle,  lovable  nature,  but  that  called  forth  no 
resentment  from  him:  merely  the  reply:  "I  think  I 
shall  be  among  the  English  poets  after  my  death." 
And  while  we  ponder  upon  the  loss  that  literature  and 
poetry  suffered  in  the  death,  in  his  early  youth,  of  one 
so  gifted,  we  unite  with  the  English-speaking  world 
in  saying:  "You  thought  rightly.  You  have  an  as- 
sured place,  and  a  high  one,  among  the  great  English 
poets." 

Conversations  About  Autographs. 

First  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young,  I  have  called  on  you,  Mr.  Old,  to  ask 
your  advice  about  a  matter  in  which  I  intend  to  be 
guided   by   your  judgment.     A   year   or   more   ago   a 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  241 

friend  gave  me  an  autograph  note  of  President  Lincoln, 
written  to  his  father;  and,  seeing  the  pleasure  with 
which  I  received  it,  he  invited  me  to  look  over  his 
father's  correspondence,  and  take  from  it  what  I  de- 
sired. I  did  so;  and  in  this  way  I  obtained  quite  a 
number  of  letters  of  prominent  men  of  the  Civil  War 
period.  The  more  I  got,  the  more  I  wanted.  The 
fever  for  collecting  had  taken  possession  of  me.  Now, 
as  I  am  a  man  of  very  moderate  means,  unable  to  in- 
dulge myself  with  any  expensive  taste;  and  as  I  am 
told  that  the  rarer  and  more  desirable  autographs  are 
commanding  very  high  prices,  and  that  common  names 
alone  can  be  had  cheaply;  the  question  I  am  considering 
is  whether  it  would  not  be  wise  for  me  to  abandon  this 
hobby  before  it  becomes  so  firmly  established  with  me 
as  to  make  it  difficult  for  me  to  give  it  up. 

Mr.  Old.  I  do  not  know  of  any  reason  why  I  should 
advise  you  to  give  up  the  pursuit  of  one  of  the  most  im- 
proving and  interesting  of  all  recreations.  It  is  true, 
as  you  have  been  told,  that  the  prices  of  certain  auto- 
graphs have  risen  so  greatly  within  the  last  fifteen  or 
twenty  years,  that  wealthy  men  alone  can  purchase 
them.  But  these  autographs  are  very  few  in  number 
when  compared  with  the  thousands  of  others  that  would 
receive  a  welcome  to  the  portfolios  of  any  one  who  does 
not   confine   himself   to   some   special,     and   therefore 


242  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

limited,  line  of  collecting.  When  I  tell  you  that  some 
men  who  finally  amassed  very  noteworthy  collections 
spent  fifty  years  or  more  of  their  lives  in  gathering 
their  treasures,  you  will  see  that  the  pursuit  of  the  hobby 
brings  in  its  gains  slowly  but  steadily,  from  month  to 
month  and  year  to  year,  until  long  continued  alertness 
and  watchful  waiting  accomplish  the  completion  or 
extension  of  series  after  series.  The  greatest  pleasure 
is  derived  from  the  gradual  acquisition  of  your  needs. 
You  go  on  adding,  little  by  little,  to  some  favorite 
series;  each  successive  gain  being  full  of  pleasure  for 
you.  When  the  work  is  done  and  the  series  completed, 
you  are  apt  to  allow  your  old  love  to  be  somewhat 
neglected,  though  never  forgotten;  and  to  become  ener- 
getic in  some  other  direction. 

The  fact  that  I  want  to  convey  to  your  mind  by  what 
I  have  said  is  that  there  is  plenty  of  worthy  material 
that  is  accessible  to  men  who  are  not  rich;  enough 
indeed  to  engage  their  attention  all  their  lives.  The 
few  greatest  rarities  are  seldom  acquired  even  by  the 
millionaire  collector;  In  fact  I  have  never  heard  of 
more  than  one  such  collector  whose  indefatigable 
energy  and  great  wealth  enabled  him,  during  many 
years,  to  outbid  all  competitors  for  the  choicest  and 
rarest  autographs  that  appeared  at  public  sales  in 
any  part  of  Europe  or  that  were  in  the  hands  of  dealers. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  243 

I  refer  to  the  late  Mr.  Morrison,  an  English  merchant, 
who  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  the  owner  of  a  col- 
lection that  is  unequaled,  except  by  the  British  Museum 
and  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  for  the  quality  and 
character  of  the  numerous  gems  it  contains. 

Names  of  first  importance  come  slowly  to  those  who 
seek  them,  and  they  are  never  likely  to  fall  very  much 
in  value;  because  they  are  limited  in  quantity,  and  col- 
lectors are  constantly  increasing  in  number.  Why, 
however,  may  not  one  whose  purse  will  not  permit  the 
purchase  of  a  full  autograph  letter  signed  of — let  us 
say — Queen  Elizabeth  or  Oliver  Cromwell,  content 
himself,  at  least  for  the  time  being,  with  a  letter  or 
document,  merely  signed,  of  either  of  them? 

If,  in  the  youth  of  your  hobby,  you  purpose  confining 
your  attention  to  American  autographs,  I  can  tell  you 
of  many  interesting  series  the  formation  of  which  you 
may  undertake  with  the  reasonable  hope  that  you 
can  go  far  towards  completing  them  without  the  ex- 
penditure of  much  money.  One  of  the  most  attractive 
of  these  series  is  that  of  the  members  of  the  Continental 
— sometimes  called  Old — Congress.  As  you  know, 
this  was  the  body  that  governed  the  United  Colonies 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  it  was  composed 
of  the  most  eminent  statesmen  and  patriots  of  the  day. 
Autograph  letters  or  documents  of  most  of  the  men 


244  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

who  were  members  of  this  Congress  can  be  had  at  small 
cost;  and,  with  few  exceptions,  nearly  all  the  scarcer 
ones  are  procurable,  from  time  to  time,  at  prices  that 
are  not  extravagant.  For  many  years  this  was  a  favor- 
ite and  leading  series  with  collectors;  but,  for  some  un- 
accountable reason,  the  taste  for  it  has,  during  recent 
times,  lain  dormant;  the  consequence  being  a  large 
reduction  in  the  prices  asked  for  the  names  it  includes. 

Another  instructive  and  patriotic  series  that  you 
might  attempt,  with  the  certainty  of  success  at  very 
reasonable  cost,  is  that  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Members  of  their  Cabinets.  This,  too, 
was  once  a  series  that  was  undertaken  by  all  collectors; 
but,  while  the  Presidential  series  is  universally  popular 
— ^more  so  than  ever — the  Cabinet  series  is  almost  en- 
tirely neglected,  and  prices  have  suffered  correspond- 
ingly. 

A  great  number  of  miscellaneous  names — ^United 
States  Senators,  Governors,  authors,  scientists,  army 
and  navy  officers,  and  other  notables — can  be  had  for 
little  more  than  a  song. 

A  good  series  to  attempt  is  that  of  the  members  of 
the  first  Congress  organized  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  Most  of  the  names  can  be  had 
without  difficulty. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  245 

Another  series,  equally  easy  of  completion,  is  that  of 
the  "Peace  Congress"  of  1861;  the  membership  of  which 
comprised  a  large  number  of  the  leading  statesmen  of 
that  day. 

I  ought  not  to  omit  calling  your  attention  to  one 
other  series  that  has  been  steadily  growing  in  the  favor  of 
collectors,  and  that  is  sure  to  become,  in  the  near  future, 
important  and  attractive.  I  refer  to  the  Generals  of 
the  Civil  War,  Union  and  Confederate.  According  to 
my  recollection,  there  are  more  than  a  thousand  of 
them.  War  letters — that  is,  letters  written  from  camp 
or  field  during  the  war — are  considered  choice,  and 
bring  much  larger  prices  than  those  written  before  or 
after  the  war.  Most  of  them  are  of  plentiful  occurrence 
at  this  time,  and  cost  but  little.  I  hope  I  have  now 
said  enough  to  convince  you  that  my  advice  is  good 
when  I  say,  unqualifiedly,  stick  to  your  hobby. 


Second  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young.  You  will  remember,  Mr.  Old,  that 
when  I  first  came  to  consult  you,  some  months  ago, 
in  regard  to  the  wisdom  of  attempting  to  form  a  col- 
lection of  autographs,  you  told  me  to  call  on  you  for 
any    information    I    might    need    for    my    guidance. 


246  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Adopting  one  of  your  suggestions,  I  commenced  to 
collect  letters  and  documents  of  the  members  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  I  have  been  quite  successful 
in  getting  a  considerable  number  of  them.  The 
dealer  who  offers  to  sell  me  the  letters,  which  I  now 
show  you,  of  Daniel  Carroll,  a  member  from  Maryland, 
and  John  Swann,  a  member  from  North  Carolina,  says 
he  has  no  doubt  that  they  are  written  by  the  men  whose 
autographs  I  want,  but  declines  to  give  me  a  positive 
guarantee  of  that  fact.  Will  you  have  the  kindness 
to  tell  me  what  you  think  of  them? 

Mr.  Old.  One  of  the  most  important  things  for  any 
man  who  is  engaged  in  forming  this  series,  or  any  other 
one,  is  to  be  particular  in  guarding  against  the  in- 
clusion of  letters  written  by  men  who,  while  having 
the  right  name,  were  not  the  identical  persons  who  were 
members;  or,  in  other  words,  to  see  that  he  does  not 
place  in  his  collection  letters  written  by  wrong  men  of 
the  right  name.  Neither  of  the  letters  you  show  me  is 
what  you  want.  There  were  two  Daniel  Carrolls  of 
Maryland,  who  were  contemporaries.  One  of  them 
was  Daniel  Carroll  of  Duddington,  who  generally 
added  the  sufBx  to  his  signature,  but  sometimes  omitted 
it,  as  he  has  done  in  this  instance.  He  was  not  the 
member  of  Congress.  Now,  in  regard  to  the  letter  of 
John  Swan.     The  old  Congressman  from  North  Caro- 


TALKS  JnOi'T  JiT(JCRJriIS  247 

lina  spelt  his  name  with  two  n's — ^John  Swann,  There 
was,  contemporaneously  with  him,  a  John  Swan,  who 
spelt  his  name  with  a  single  n.  He  was  a  A-lajor  of 
Baylor's  regiment  of  dragoons  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.     The  letter  you  show  me  is  written  by  him. 

If  proper  care  were  exercised,  these  mistakes  should 
not  occur.  Yet  such  an  experienced  collector  as  Mr. 
Cist  had,  in  his  series  of  Old  Congressmen,  both  of  the 
wrong  vien  we  have  been  talking  about,  and  Prof. 
Leffingwell  had  the  wrong  John  Swann. 

It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  the  fine  collections 
of  both  these  men  were  marred  by  errors  of  this  kind — 
errors  which,  in  many  instances,  were  inexcusable. 
For  example,  in  the  Cist  collection  we  find  John 
Stevens,  noted  for  his  invention  for  driving  a  screw 
propeller  by  steam,  instead  of  his  father  of  the  same 
name;  and  John  Vining,  Senior^  of  Delaware,  instead 
of  his  son,  John. 

Among  the  Congressmen  from  Maryland,  Robert 
Goldsborough,  Jr.,  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Maryland,  is  accepted  in  place  of  his  father;  William 
Harrison  is  a  wrong  man  of  the  right  name;  and  David 
Ross,  an  officer  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  represents 
the  right  Ross.  Among  Virginia  Congressmen  we  find 
Mann  Page,  Senior,  instead  of  the  son,  of  that  name;  a 
Marylander  named  William  Fitzhugh,  who,  of  course. 


248  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

was  not  the  right  man;  and  a  James  Henry  who  was  a 
contemporary  of  the  Congressman.  When  we  come  to 
the  names  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  we  see  Paul 
Trapier  represented  by  the  father  of  the  Congressman, 
and  John  Walton  by  the  son. 

The  Leffingwell  collection  had  fewer  errors  of  this 
kind;  the  most  notable  being  those  of  William  Flem- 
ing, of  Virginia,  William  Gibbons,  of  Georgia,  William 
Henry,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Nicholas  Van  Dyke,  of 
Delaware.  These  names  were  represented,  respect- 
ively, by  Col.  William  Fleming,  William  Gibbons, 
Jnn.,  a  totally  different  William  Henry,  and  Nicholas 
Van  Dyke,  the  younger. 

There  are  other  names  in  the  series  about  which 
you  must  be  careful.  In  Pennsylvania,  William  Ship- 
pen,  father  and  son,  were  contemporaries,  and  both  of 
them  were  physicians.  The  elder  Shippen  was  the 
congressman.  Dr.  David  Jackson  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  another  Philadelphian  of  the  same  name; 
and  Matthew  Clarkson,  the  member  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, must  not  have  his  place  filled  by  Major  Matthew 
Clarkson,  who  was  an  aide  to  General  Arnold.  Gun- 
ning Bedford,  of  Delaware,  must  not  be  represented 
by  a  Philadelphia  carpenter,  of  that  name;  nor  Jona- 
than Elmer,  of  New  Jersey,  by  a  contemporary  Jona- 
than, who  was  a  clergyman. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  249 

Perhaps  the  most  serious  and  glaring  error  that 
has  occurred,  apparently  without  excuse,  is  in  the 
acceptance  of  a  letter  of  George  Taylor,  who  belonged 
to  the  New  Jersey  Coast  Guard  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  as  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  Signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  The  handwriting  and  signa- 
tures of  these  two  men  are  not  at  all  similar;  and  yet 
I  have  known  high  prices  to  be  paid  by  dealers,  on 
at  least  two  occasions,  for  letters  of  the  wrong  man. 
They  have  probably  gone  into  collections  whose  own- 
ers are  in  happy  ignorance  of  the  truth. 

Let  me  add  a  word  or  two  about  the  autographs 
of  members  of  the  "Albany  Convention"  of  1754. 
There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  blundering  on  the  part 
of  collectors  in  accepting,  for  a  place  in  this  series, 
letters  of  the  wrong  men.  To  particularize — Henry 
Sherburne,  Roger  Wolcott,  and  Martin  Howard  should, 
in  each  case,  be  the  Junior  of  that  name,  while  William 
Smith  should  be  the  Senior.  The  Se?iior  John  Chand- 
ler should  not  supplant,  as  he  often  does,  his  son  of 
the  same  name. 

I  have  said  enough — perhaps  more  than  enough 
— to  caution  you  to  be  sure  to  get  the  right  man  of  the 
given  name,  and  not  to  accept  the  father  instead  of 
the  son,  or  vice  versa.  The  character  of  a  collection 
depends,  to  a  large  extent,  on  the  authenticity  of  its 


250  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

component  parts.  There  must  be  equal  exclusion  of 
the  spurious  item  and  of  that  which  can  not  show  its 
title  to  the  place  in  which  it  is  to  be  put. 

Mr.  Young.  You  have  shown  me,  very  clearly, 
some  of  the  dangers  I  am  likely  to  encounter.  I  shall 
certainly  make  every  effort  to  avoid  them;  and  I  hope 
that,  with  your  help,  I  shall  succeed  in  doing  so. 

Third  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young.  I  am  trying  to  gather  material  for 
a  set  of  letters  of  the  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of 
the  United  States;  and,  though  I  am  told  that  Aaron 
Burr  is  easily  obtained,  I  have  not,  up  to  this  time,  had 
the  opportunity  of  getting  a  letter  written  by  him. 
Yesterday  I  was  offered  the  letter  which  I  now  show 
you.  It  is  dated  April  9,  1776.  On  comparing  the 
handwriting  and  signature  with  a  facsimile  of  a  letter 
of  his  dated  in  1790,  I  do  not  see  the  slightest  resem- 
blance between  the  two  papers.  This  fact  leads  me 
to  think  that  some  other  man,  of  the  same  name, 
must  have  written  the  letter  about  which  I  am  asking 
your  opinion. 

Mr.  Old.  I  don't  wonder  that  you  have  the 
doubt  you  express.  Burr's  early  letters — those  that  he 
wrote   as  Aide-de-Camp   to  Gen.   Putnam,   and   as   a 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


251 


r 


-  ^. 


y^z^.^ 


^P^^^w-  _ 


^y^.,...,^o^ /^^^^^^ 


y/A. 


.fi-^n-c  ^ /^ 


1.  Conclusion  of  an  autograph  letter  of  Aaron  Burr  written  in  the  year  1795, 

at  the  age  of  thirty-nine. 

2.  Autograph  written  in  the  year  1776,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  when   he  was  an 

officer  in  the  Continental  Army. 


252  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  Continental  service — ^were 
the  productions  of  a  man  less  than,  or  very  slightly 
over,  twenty-one  years  old.  At  this  time  his  hand- 
writing strongly  resembled  a  school  boy's  scrawl.  It 
was  totally  unformed;  and,  as  you  have  said,  is  utterly 
unlike  that  of  a  period  some  eight  or  ten  years  later, 
when,  after  a  series  of  gradual  changes,  it  had  acquired 
the  neat  and  legible  form  so  familiar  to  collectors. 
You  need  have  no  hesitation  in  placing  this  letter  in 
your  collection,  unless  you  prefer  to  wait  for  one  of 
a  later  date.  As  a  matter  of  fact  his  early  military 
letters  are  a  hundred  times  scarcer  than  those  he 
wrote  after  he  had  reached  a  mature  age. 

Mr.  Young.  Are  not  these  dissimilarities  in  the 
handwriting  of  a  man,  at  different  periods  of  his  life, 
very  unusual.^ 

Mr.  Old.  You  will  find,  in  your  progress  as  a 
collector,  a  number  of  interesting  instances  similar  to 
that  you  have  had  with  the  Burr  letter.  I  can  cite  a 
couple  that  are  directly  in  point.  The  signature  of 
J.  Rodman  Drake,  the  noted  poet,  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen bears  only  the  shadow  of  resemblance  to  that 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one  or  twenty-two.  The  hand- 
writing and  signature  of  General  Washington  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  though  scrupulously  neat,  bears  a 


u^ 


/.' 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  253 

boyish  character  totally  unlike  his  mature  hand.  Dur- 
ing the  succeeding  five  years  it  was  shaping  itself, 
little  by  little,  into  the  well  known  hand  which  it 
acquired  by  the  time  Washington  was  twenty-five. 

In  contradistinction  to  these  cases,  there  are  others 
in  which  the  handwriting  became  mature  and  fixed  at 
a  very  early  time  of  life.  So  it  was  with  the  preco- 
cious genius,  Thomas  Chatterton,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  eighteen,  and  with  the  lamented  poet  Henry  Kirke 
White,  who  was  only  twenty-one  at  the  time  of  his 
death. 

The  handwriting  of  Abraham  Lincoln  preserved, 
until  the  close  of  his  life,  its  early  form  and  neatness. 

Of  changes  in  the  handwriting  of  eminent  men 
none  is  more  notable  than  that  which  occurs  in  the 
case  of  the  illustrious  Bacon,  afterwards  Baron  Veru- 
1am  and  Viscount  St.  Albans.  As  Francis  Bacon  his 
handwriting  and  signature  present  characteristics  very 
different  from  those  which  appear  when  he  became 
Lord  Chancellor  and  signed  himself  "Fr.  Verulam, 
Cane." 

Samuel  Leigh  Sotheby,  the  author  of  "Ramblings 
in  the  Elucidation  of  the  Autograph  of  Milton,"  had 
occasion  to  make  a  close  study  of  handwriting,  and 
became  an  acknowledged  expert  in  this  field.  He 
says:   "Comparatively   few   persons   adopt   any  other 


254  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

than  the  ordinary  handwriting  they  use  in  their  daily 
transactions.  Their  writing  does  not  vary  through- 
out their  lives  more  than  by  its  failure  in  precision  and 
boldness  as  their  physical  powers  decay.  Of  this  fact 
numerous  instances  might  be  illustrated  by  facsimiles; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  many  examples  might  be 
given  of  the  handwriting  of  eminent  persons,  the 
character  of  which  is  totally  different  at  various 
periods  of  their  lives.  More  remarkable  instances 
could  not  be  adduced  than  in  the  autograph  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  Charles  I,  whose  writing  varied  at  dif- 
ferent periods  and  under  peculiar  circumstances." 
Mr.  Sotheby  might  have  mentioned  a  number  of 
causes,  some  of  which  seem  to  be  mere  trifles,  that 
affect  the  character  of  the  handwriting.  The  pen, 
the  posture  of  the  hand,  the  space  at  command  for 
the  writing,  even  the  condition  of  the  health,  have  a 
positive  influence  upon  the  formation  of  the  written 
words. 

While  I  am  discussing  handwriting,  let  me  men- 
tion one  or  two  facts  which,  possibly,  may  be  of  in- 
terest to  you.  Some  day  or  other  you  will  want  an 
autograph  letter,  or  at  least  a  letter  signed,  of  the 
great  Napoleon.  If  you  should  succeed  in  getting  a 
full  letter,  or  one  that  has  a  few  lines  written  by  him, 
be  prepared  to  find  that  you  cannot  decipher  his  words. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


z:)3 


In  the  latter  part  of  his  Hfe  his  handwriting  became 
ahnost  illegible,  even  to  those  who  had  long  made  a 
study  of  it. 

If  you  should  want — as  you  probably  will  at  some 
stage  of  your  collecting — a  letter  or  document  signed 
of  the  illustrious  Cardinal  Richelieu,  be  careful,  be- 
fore you  buy,  to  have  an  expert  say  whether  the  sig- 
nature is  that  of  the  Cardinal  or  of  his  Secretary,  who 
succeeded  in  imitating  his  master's  signature  so  closely 
as  to  make  it  difficult  to  distinguish  one  from  the 
other.  I  spoke  of  a  letter  or  document  merely  signed^ 
because  a  full  autograph  letter  signed  of  the  Cardinal 
is  a  very  great  rarity. 

Perhaps  you  have  heard  some  people  speak  of 
the  handwriting  of  Rufus  Choate  and  Horace  Gree- 
ley as  being  almost  impossible  to  decipher.  They  tell 
fairy  stories  about  the  interpretations  that  have  been 
placed  on  certain  passages  in  letters  of  these  men. 
Now,  while  it  is  true  that  their  writing  does  not  follow 
the  models  set  down  in  the  copy-books,  and  is  neither 
beautiful  nor  easily  read  by  one  not  accustomed  to  a 
variety  of  hands,  it  is  equally  untrue  that  their  letters 
present  the  difficulties  encountered  with  hieroglyphics. 


256  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Fourth  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young.  I  have  made  a  pretty  good  start  on 
the  series  of  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  have  secured  more  than  twenty  letters  or  docu- 
ments of  the  men  who  affixed  their  names  to  this  docu- 
ment. I  know,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  the  two 
rarest  names  in  the  series  are  those  of  Thomas  Lynch, 
junior,  and  Button  Gwinnett,  and  that  I  can  never 
hope  to  get  more  than  a  mere  signature  of  the  one  and 
perhaps  a  document  signed  of  the  other.  I  am  offered 
at  350 — which  I  am  told  is  a  very  low  price — this 
book,  having  the  signature  of  Thos.  Lynch,  junior, 
on  the  title  page.  The  question  in  my  mind  is  whether 
the  signature  is  genuine.  Will  you  tell  me  what  you 
think  of  it? 

Mr.  Old.  First  of  all,  let  me  ask  you  about  the 
source  from  which  the  book  comes.  Is  it  the  property 
of  a  reputable  dealer  in  autographs  or  of  some  person 
unknown  to  you?  The  importance  of  this  question 
will  be  plain  when  I  tell  you  that,  in  passing  upon  the 
genuineness  of  signatures  on  the  title  pages  of  books, 
the  existence  of  a  strong  reason  for  believing  that  the 
book  belonged  to  the  person  whose  signature  it  is 
said  to  contain  greatly  helps  us  in  reaching  a  correct 
conclusion. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  257 

Mr.  Young.  The  book  was  brought  to  mc  by  a 
stranger,  who  said  he  had  heard  Mr.  A.,  a  friend  of 
mine,  speak  of  my  wish  to  obtain  a  Lynch  signature. 
I  asked  him  how  long  he  had  owned  it  and  what  he 
knew  about  its  history.  His  answer  was  that  his 
father  had  brought  it,  and  many  other  books,  with 
him  when  he  moved  from  South  Carolina.  What 
impressed  me  more  than  anything  else  in  regard  to 
his  good  faith  was  that  he  was  entirely  willing  to  leave 
the  book  with  me  so  that  I  might  have  it  critically 
examined. 

Mr.  Old.  As  you  have  no  proof  whatever  that 
the  book  ever  belonged  to  Lynch,  let  us  see  whether 
a  close  examination  of  the  signature  will  throw  any 
light  on  the  question  of  genuineness.  A  great  many 
years  ago,  when  Mr.  Tefft  and  other  collectors  in  the 
South  were  making  an  active  search  for  autographs  of 
this  Signer,  it  was  accidentally  discovered  that  a 
Public  Library  in  Charleston  contained  a  number  of 
books  that  had  belonged  to  him  and  that  contained  his 
signature.  As  it  occupied  a  very  minute  space  at  the 
top  of  the  title  page,  its  removal  did  little  damage  to 
the  book.  The  signatures  so  obtained  found  their 
way,  by  exchanges,  into  all  the  leading  American 
collections  of  the  nineteenth  century;  and  the  supply, 
which    probably   never   exceeded   fifteen,    became   ex- 


258  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

hausted.  These  signatures  were  written  by  Lynch 
when  he  was  a  very  young  man,  and  all  of  them  are 
exactly  alike.  Let  me  show  you  one  that  I  have. 
It  is,  as  you  see,  "T  Lynch  Jun""";  and  the  letters  are 
very  small,  the  whole  writing  being  little  more  than 
an  inch  in  length.  Do  you  not  observe  several  great 
differences  between  this  signature  and  that  in  the 
book?  In  the  first  place,  the  book  has  it  ^'Thos. 
Lynch  Jun*"";  and  he  did  not  so  write  his  name  in 
books.  Secondly,  the  writing  lacks  the  firmness  and 
precision  of  the  acknowledged  genuine  signatures,  and 
is  a  more  flowing  hand.  Thirdly,  and  of  great  mo- 
ment, the  ink  is  evidently  not  of  the  period  when  the 
pretended  signature  was  written.  It  shows  no  sign 
of  being  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  bears  all  the  looks  of  an  ink  of  modern 
manufacture.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  advising  you 
to  return  the  book  to  the  man  from  whom  you  got  it. 

Mr.  Young.  You  have  taught  me  a  lesson  to  be 
remembered.  Certainly  there  must  be  many  books  in 
existence  that  contain  the  genuine  autographs  of  dis- 
tinguished men.  Must  we  look  with  suspicion  upon 
all  that  can  not  be  positively  shown  to  have  belonged 
to  the  man  whose  signature  they  bear.^ 

Mr.  Old.  No.  To  take  that  position  would  be 
going  much  too  far.     What  we  must  do  in  all  cases  is 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  259 

to  apply  the  recognized  tests,  and  judge  by  the  re- 
sults. Mr.  Sotheby  has  considered  this  question  in 
his  "Ramblings."  He  says:  "The  success  that  has 
of  late  years  attended  the  'profession'  of  the  forger  of 
literary  and  antiquarian  relics  both  abroad  and  at 
home,  has  had  the  effect  of  making  the  most  learned 
and  acute  in  such  matters  occasionally  sceptical  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  that  of  which  they  would  not  other- 
wise have  entertained  a  doubt." 

Please  remember  that  there  are  plenty  of  books, 
printed  in  Continental  Europe  as  well  as  in  England 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  that  can  be  had  for  a 
trifling  price.  Assume  that  some  industrious  forger 
wants  to  put  on  the  title  page  of  one  of  these  books 
the  signature  of  Francis  Bacon.  He  gets  a  good  fac- 
simile of  Bacon's  handwriting,  practices  in  copying  it, 
and  finally,  when  he  has  acquired  sufficient  skill  to 
make  an  exact  copy,  he  writes  it  on  the  title  page  of 
such  a  book  of  the  period  as  one  might  suppose  Bacon 
would  admit  to  the  shelves  of  his  library.  Or,  he  may 
adopt  one  of  the  ways  in  which  a  faint,  but  correct, 
tracing  of  the  signature  can  be  transferred  to  the  pa- 
per, then  to  be  gone  over  with  ink.  These  forgeries 
are  spoken  of  by  Etienne  Charavay  and  other  experts 
as  being  common.  In  Volume  16  of  the  Cornhill 
Magazine    there    is    an    account   of   a    German    Bible 


260  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

which  was  purchased  by  the  British  Museum  at  the 
Hibbert  Sale,  in  1829,  for  the  sum  of  £267.15.  It 
was  said  to  have  belonged  to  Luther  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  and  afterwards  to  Melancthon,  Bugenhausen, 
and  Major;  and  to  contain  the  autographs  of  all  these 
famous  men.  Mr.  Sotheby  pronounced  all  these  sig- 
natures to  be  forgeries. 

By  what  means,  then,  are  such  forgeries  of  mere 
signatures  on  title  pages  to  be  detected?  You  can 
not  give  them  the  same  tests  you  can  use  in  the  case 
of  letters.  If  the  genuineness  of  a  letter  is  doubted, 
among  other  tests  you  can  take  a  single  word  and 
apply  to  it  the  proper  chemical  to  inform  you  about 
the  age  and  character  of  the  ink.  To  test  a  mere 
signature  in  this  way  would  be  to  ruin  it.  Inasmuch 
as  the  paper  is  surely  of  the  period,  your  endeavor 
must  be  to  ascertain  whether  the  same  thing  is  true 
of  the  ink.  Dr.  Scott  discusses  this  matter  in  his 
"Autograph  Collecting."  He  says:  "With  reference 
to  the  subject  of  ink,  we  need  only  consider  one  kind, 
since  only  one  fluid  has  been  used  during  the  whole 
history  of  letter-writing  until  recent  years,  viz.,  ink 
made  by  macerating  or  infusing  coarsely  powdered 
nutgalls  in  pure  water,  in  which  green  copperas  [sul- 
phate of  iron]  had  been  previously  dissolved  with 
sufficient  gum  arable  or  animal  glue  added  to  cause  the 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  261 

fluid  to  flow  readily  from  the  pen  and  adhere  to  the 
paper.  Nothing,  however,  connected  with  autographs 
requires  closer  or  more  attentive  scrutiny,  as  hitherto 
the  production  of  any  liquid  which  will  exactly  re- 
semble old  ink  has  baffled  all  the  art  of  the  forger. 
.  .  .  Few  inks  have  ever  produced  enduring  jet-black 
writing,  but  they  generally  result  in  peculiar  shades  of 
colour  of  their  own  through  the  long-continued  action 
of  the  atmospheric  oxygen,  and  thus  old  writings  sup- 
ply a  wonderful  variety  of  yellows,  browns,  and  reds." 
An  expert,  following  the  information  given  in 
Carvalho's  "Forty  Centuries  of  Ink,"  and  in  Black- 
burn and  Caddell's  "The  Detection  of  Forgery,"  ought 
to  be  able  to  come  to  a  reasonably  correct  conclu- 
sion whether  the  ink  with  which  the  alleged  ancient 
signature  was  written  is  genuine  ink  of  the  period  or 
whether  it  is  of  modern  manufacture. 


Fifth  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young.  I  come  to  you  again,  Mr.  Old,  for 
information  that  I  need.  I  am  making  very  good 
progress  with  my  set  of  autographs  of  the  Members  of 
the  Continental  Congress;  but  sometimes  I  am  at  a 
loss  to  know  whether  the  high  price  I  am  asked  to  pay 


262  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

for  a  letter  on  the  ground  of  its  rarity  is  justified  by 
the  fact.  I  know,  of  course,  that  rarity  is  one  of  the 
main  factors  in  determining  value;  but  I  don't  know 
which  of  the  names  in  this  long  list  are  to  be  included 
in  the  extremely  rare,  the  very  rare^  and  the  rare,  cate- 
gories. 

Mr.  Old.  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  you  ask 
this  question.  Some  sale  catalogues  describe  a  large 
number  of  the  autographs  named  in  them  as  rare  or 
very  rare;  not  for  the  purpose  of  deception,  but  chiefly 
because  the  cataloguer,  having  no  real  knowledge  on 
this  head,  supposes  that  such  a  description  of  the 
item  will  make  it  more  attractive.  In  other  cata- 
logues all  designations  of  rarity  or  degrees  of  rarity 
are  omitted,  upon  the  presumption  that  the  intelli- 
gent collector  already  has  this  knowledge.  I  think 
this  mode  is  decidedly  the  better  one. 

Now  I  will  try  to  answer  your  question.  Your 
division  of  the  degrees  of  rarity  into  extremely  rare, 
very  rare,  and  rare,  is  a  good  one.  Unconsciously, 
perhaps,  you  are  following,  in  part,  the  method  origin- 
ated by  the  great  French  collector,  Benjamin  Fillon, 
and  adopted  by  the  late  Etienne  Charavay  in  prepar- 
ing the  catalogue  of  that  collection  for  the  sale  that 
took  place  in  Paris  in  1878.  This  method  was  to  mark 
the  degrees  of  rarity  in  the  following  manner:  C  [com- 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  263 

mon];  R'  [same  as  common],  Rs  R%  Rs  Rs  R',  R',  RS 
R»,  to  Indicate  the  various  degrees  of  progress  in  rarity; 
and  R*  to  indicate  excessive  rarity,  or,  in  other  words, 
autographs  that  are  either  unique  or  presque  introuvahles . 

Running  over  the  names  in  the  list  of  old  Con- 
gressmen, I  should  say  that  in  the  category  of  extremely 
rare  names — those  that  would  be  marked  R» — place 
should  be  given  to  John  Gardner  [R.  1.],  and  James 
Forbes  and  David  Ross  [Md.].  No  letter  of  the  right 
John  Gardner  has  ever  appeared  for  sale,  nor  is  any 
known  to  exist  in  a  private  collection.  His  father  [of 
the  same  name] — born  in  1696,  and  died  in  1770 — 
was  quite  a  noted  man,  and  at  one  time  was  Deputy 
Governor  of  R.  I.  The  autograph  of  the  elder  Gard- 
ner is  common,  and  some  collectors  have  allowed  it  to 
do  duty  for  the  autograph  of  the  son. 

No  letter  of  James  Forbes  has  appeared  in  any 
auction  or  sale  catalogue;  and  the  only  known  letter 
of  the  right  David  Ross  is  that  which  was  sold  at  the 
Leffingwell  sale,  and  resold  when  the  collection  of  its 
purchaser  was  disposed  of.   ' 

Among  the  very  rare  names — those  that  would  be 
designated  by  R^  or  R^ — I  should  include  George 
Champlin  [R.  I.];  Charles  Humphreys  and  Joseph 
Montgomery  [Pa.];  Edward  Giles  and  John  Rogers 
[Md.];  William  Cumming,  John  Swann,  Ephraim  Bre- 


264  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

vard,  Joseph  McDowell  and  John  Stokes  [N.  C] ;  Henry 
Middleton  [S.  C.];  and  John  Walton  [Ga.]. 

In  classifying  these  names  as  very  rare,  and  in  all 
other  classifications,  I  must  be  understood  as  speak- 
ing of  full  autograph  letters  or  documents,  or,  at  least, 
of  a  good  letter  merely  signed.  The  designation  would 
not  be  correct  as  applied,  for  example,  to  the  Colonial 
paper  money  signed  by  Charles  Humphreys  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  by  Henry  Middleton  in  South  Carolina. 

The  rare  names — such  as  would  be  in  the  R^  or 
Rs  classification — may  well  include  Samuel  Rhoads 
[Pa.];  John  Cooper  [N.  J.];  John  Evans  and  John 
Patten  [Del.];  Thomas  Adams,  Richard  Bland,  and 
Merewether  Smith  [Va.];  Thomas  Person  [N.  C.];  and 
Thomas  Lynch  and  John  Parker  [S.  C.]. 

A  small  number  of  the  remaining  names  may 
properly  be  called  scarce;  but  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
particularize  them. 

Mr.  Young.  May  I  ask  you  to  go  further,  and 
give  me  the  same  kind  of  information  about  names 
that  occur  in  the  Albany  Convention  and  the  Stamp 
Act  Congress  Series,  as  well  as  in  the  series  of  Mem- 
bers of  the  Federal  Convention  and  Generals  of  the 
Revolutionary  War? 

Mr.  Old.  In  the  Albany  Convention  Series  the 
rare  names — for  A.   L.   S. — are  Roger  Wolcott,  Jun. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  265 

[Conn.],  and  Martin  Howard,  Jun.  [R.  I.];  and  the 
extremely  rare  name  is  Abraham  Barnes  [Md.].  By  the 
way,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  was  another 
Abraham  Barnes,  also  a  Maryland  man,  who  was 
contemporary  with  the  member  of  the  Convention; 
and  care  must  be  taken  not  to  accept  him  in  place  of 
the  right  man. 

In  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  Series  there  is  one 
extremely  rare  name;  that  of  William  Murdock  of 
Maryland.  Three  names — those  of  Timothy  Ruggles 
[Mass.],  David  Rowland  [Conn.],  and  Thomas  Lynch 
[S.  C] — may  properly  be  called  rare.  You  must  guard 
against  being  deceived  by  a  letter  of  a  certain  Thomas 
Lynch,  a  merchant  of  the  city  of  New  York,  who  was 
a  contemporary  of  the  right  Lynch. 

In  the  series  of  Signers  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
U.  S.  and  Members  of  the  Federal  Convention,  no 
names  occur  that  are  extremely  rare.  Of  names  that 
are  rare  I  can  specify  Robert  H.  Harrison  [Md.],  John 
Blair  [Va.],  Willie  Jones  [N.  C],  and  William  Houstoun 
[Ga.]. 

In  the  series  of  Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
the  extremely  rare  names  are  Philippe  Du  Coudray, 
the  Chevalier  de  Roche  Fermoy,  and  the  Chevalier  de 
la  Neuville.  They  are  not  represented  in  any  of  the 
collections,    large   or   small,    that   have   been    sold    at 


266  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

auction  during  the  last  fifty  years.  A  letter  signed  by 
Baron  de  Woedtke  has  appeared  once,  and  once  only, 
in  a  sale  catalogue.     An  A.  L.  S.  is  unknown. 

Among  the  very  rare  names  I  should  class  John 
Stark  and  Israel  Putnam  [in  the  form  of  A.  L.  S.], 
Count  Pulaski,  Andrew  Lewis,  Francis  Nash,  James 
Hogun,  and  the  Chevalier  De  Preudhomme  De  Borre. 

The  rare  names  would  include  Richard  Mont- 
gomery, John  Thomas,  Thomas  Conway,  the  Baron  de 
Kalb,  Seth  Pomeroy,  James  Aloore,  John  Philip  De 
Haas,  Ebenezer  Learned,  and  Hugh  Mercer. 

Names  of  certain  generals  that  are  of  common 
occurrence,  but  are  much  sought  for — such  as  Wash- 
ington, Benedict  Arnold,  Anthony  Wayne,  and  Na- 
thanael  Greene — would  be  designated  as  recherche  by 
a  French  dealer. 

Having  answered  all  your  questions,  I  want  to 
say  that  the  conclusions  I  have  expressed  in  regard 
to  rarity  are  based  on  an  experience  covering  very 
many  years;  during  which  time  I  have  had  in  my 
hands  and  have  carefully  examined  all  the  catalogues 
of  public  or  private  sales  of  autographs  that  have  been 
issued  in  the  United  States.  Some  collectors  will, 
perhaps,  differ  with  me  in  regard  to  certain  names, 
which  they  may  think  should  have  received  either  a 
higher  or  a  lower  mark  of  rarity.     Some  may  think 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  267 

I  have  named  too  many — others  that  I  have  not  named 
enough.  Such  differences  of  opinion  are  most  natural, 
and  are  bound  to  exist. 

Let  me,  however,  impress  upon  you  the  fact  that 
substantial  changes  in  the  degrees  of  rarity  I  have 
noted  may  easily  happen  within  any  decade.  Names 
that  have  long  been  sought,  either  totally  or  very 
largely  in  vain,  may  emerge  from  sources  hitherto  un- 
known, be  placed  on  the  market,  and  thus  lose  their 
rarity.  Other  names,  that  are  now  merely  scarce  or 
rare,  may  become  very  rare  by  the  failure  of  an  ade- 
quate supply  of  them.  I  can  cite  instances  of  such 
changes  in  years  gone  by.  Fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  no 
collector  had  ever  seen  an  autograph  of  William 
Clingan,  a  Pennsylvania  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress  and  a  Signer  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
Mr.  Cist  expressed  the  opinion  that  if  any  man  of  this 
name  had  been  a  member  of  the  Congress,  he  would 
have  left  some  written  sign  of  his  existence.  Dr. 
Sprague  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  name  was  a 
misprint  for  William  Bingham.  So  it  happened  that 
this  void  in  the  series  remained  unfilled  until  1876, 
or  perhaps  1880;  when,  among  a  large  quantity  of 
papers  of  the  Revolutionary  period  discovered  in  a 
long-unused  room  in  the  Capitol  at  Harrisburg,  many 
letters   and   documents  of  Clingan  were  found.      Of 


268  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

course  no  collection  was  thereafter  without  this  name. 
Simon  Boerum  is  another  instance  of  the  same 
kind.  Up  to  the  time  when  Mr.  Danforth  unearthed, 
in  a  County  Surrogate's  office,  dozens  of  official  auto- 
graphs— documents — signed  of  this  absolutely  obscure 
man,  any  paper  in  his  handwriting  would  have  been  a 
rarity  of  rarities.  For  years  and  3-ears  the  name  was 
totally  unprocurable.  Then,  when  Dr.  Emmet  was 
so  fortunate  as  to  secure  a  large  D.  S.  at  a  correspond- 
ingly large  price,  collectors  thought  he  had  become 
the  owner  of  something  almost  unique.  Now,  every 
collector  who  wanted  this  autograph  has  it;  and  it  is 
a  drug  on  the  market,  though  the  dealers  still  hold  it 
at  a  pretty  stiff  price  because  once  upon  a  time  it  sold 
at  3200. 

As  an  instance  of  great  increase  in  rarity,  let  me 
tell  you  a  little  story  about  the  letters  and  manu- 
scripts gathered  by  Gov.  David  L.  Swain,  of  North 
Carolina,  with  the  intention  of  using  them  in  the  prep- 
aration of  a  history  of  his  native  State.  He  succeeded 
in  getting  together  a  very  large  amount  of  material  of 
great  autographic,  as  well  as  historical,  interest  and 
value,  including  many  letters  of  Signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  Generals  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  etc.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  Civil  War, 
Dr.  Charles  G.  Barney,  a  Northerner  by  birth,  who 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  269 

had  married  a  Southern  lady  and  had  become  a  resi- 
dent of  Richmond,  Va.,  heard  of  these  papers.  He 
was  a  collector  in  a  small  way  and  had  some  knowledge 
of  the  rarity  of  certain  letters.  So  he  paid  a  visit  to 
Gov.  Swain,  and  requested  permission  to  examine 
them  for  historical  purposes.  It  was  granted;  and  he 
became  the  possessor  of  hundreds  of  letters  which  had 
come  from  the  correspondence  of  William  Hooper, 
Joseph  Hewes,  John  Penn,  and  Samuel  Johnston.  He 
had  a  large  number  of  letters  of  each  of  the  North 
Carolina  Signers,  with  fine  historical  contents,  which 
he  brought  to  the  North,  immediately  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  and  sold  to  collectors  and  dealers  at  320 
per  letter.  There  were  other  gems  obtained  from  the 
same  source,  for  which  he  received  prices  depending 
upon  the  number  of  specimens  in  his  hands.  It  took 
him  five  or  six  years  to  dispose  of  his  entire  supply. 
If  collectors  had  considered  the  fact  that,  with  the 
exhaustion  of  this  supply,  letters  of  these  Signers  would 
again  become  rare,  a  better  appreciation  of  their  pe- 
cuniary value  would  have  been  entertained.  To-day, 
all  of  them  are  considered  rare,  and  their  money  value 
is  vastly  greater  than  it  was  from  1865  to  1880. 

Arthur  Middleton,  one  of  the  South  Carolina 
Signers,  may  also  be  mentioned  as  an  instance  of  an 
autograph  which  was  once,  for  a  time,  quite  plentiful, 


270  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

but  afterwards  became  very  rare.  In  the  year  1860 
a  bundle  of  drafts  signed  by  Middleton  and  some  of 
his  colleagues  in  the  Continental  Congress,  dated  in 
1781  and  1782,  and  written  on  one  half  of  a  4to  sheet 
of  paper,  came  to  light  in  Philadelphia.  They  were 
offered  for  sale  at  $S  each,  and  were  greedily  taken  by 
collectors,  nearly  all  of  whom  needed  this  autograph. 
After  the  collectors  had  been  fully  supplied,  the  sur- 
plus went  to  dealers.  In  1886,  at  the  Cist  sale,  one 
of  these  drafts  sold  for  $\S.  Five  years  later,  at  the 
Leffingwell  sale,  the  price  advanced  to  3140.  To-day 
it  would  be  much  more. 


Sixth  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young.  A  friend  of  mine  who  is  interested, 
as  I  am,  in  collecting  letters  of  American  poets,  and 
who  has  most  of  the  important  names,  asked  me,  a 
few  days  ago,  if  I  had  autographs  of  Philip  Pendleton 
Cooke,  Lucy  Hooper,  Edward  C.  Pinkney,  and  the 
Davidson  sisters.  I  told  him  that  I  hadn't  any  of 
them,  and  I  frankly  confessed  that,  with  the  exception 
of  Cooke,  the  names  were  unfamiliar  to  me.  Since 
then  I  have  looked  into  Duyckinck's  "Cyclopedia  of 
American    Literature,"    where    I    find    quite    lengthy 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  111 

notices  of  all  of  them.  Can  you  tell  me  anything  in 
regard  to  the  rarity  of  their  autographs? 

Mr.  Old.  All  the  names  you  mention  have  honor- 
able places  in  the  annals  of  American  literature.  While 
it  is  true  that  they  are  rarely  mentioned  nowadays,  it 
is  no  less  true  that  they  were  once  wtII  known  and 
highly  esteemed.  A  special  interest,  of  a  somewhat 
sad  kind,  attaches  to  them  from  the  fact  that  they 
died  when  very  young.  The  Davidson  sisters — Lu- 
cretia  Maria  and  Margaret  Miller — furnish  very  re- 
markable instances  of  youthful  precocity.  Both  of 
them  died  of  consumption;  Lucretia,  one  month  be- 
fore reaching  her  seventeenth  birthday,  and  Margaret, 
at  the  age  of  fifteen.  The  esteem  in  which  Lucretia's 
poems  were  held  was  expressed  by  the  English  poet 
Southey  in  a  laudatory  notice  in  the  Quarterly  Review, 
in  which  he  said:  "In  our  own  language,  except  in  the 
cases  of  Chatterton  and  Kirke  White,  we  can  call  to 
mind  no  instance  of  so  early,  so  ardent,  and  so  fatal 
a  pursuit  of  intellectual  advancement."  Margaret's 
poems  were  introduced  to  the  world  by  Washington 
Irving.  She  began  to  write  when  she  was  only  six 
years  old;  and,  according  to  her  mother's  statement, 
"she  seemed  to  exist  only  in  the  regions  of  poetry." 

No  letter  of  either  of  these  sisters  has  ever  ap- 
peared in  a  sale  catalogue,  nor  is  any  known  to  exist  in 


272  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

a  public  collection.  Dr.  Sprague,  who  lived  in  Albany 
and  personally  knew  the  Davidson  family,  was  unable 
to  obtain  from  Mrs.  Davidson  any  autographic  me- 
mentos of  her  gifted  daughters  other  than  a  small 
manuscript  poem,  signed  on  the  back,  written  by 
Lucretia,  and  a  short  note  written  and  signed  by  Mar- 
garet. You  may,  therefore,  consider  their  autographs 
as  excessively  rare. 

Next,  in  the  order  of  rarity  of  the  names  we  are 
considering,  I  should  place  Lucy  Hooper.  She,  too, 
died  when  she  was  very  young — only  twenty-five. 
That  she  was  regarded  as  a  poet  of  much  merit  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that,  when  her  "Complete  Poetical 
Works"  were  published  in  1848,  they  contained  lauda- 
tory verses  by  Whittier  and  Tuckerman.  Her  auto- 
graph was  wanting  in  every  collection  that  has  yet 
been  exposed  to  public  sale,  and  may  be  classed  as 
extremely  rare.  The  same  remark  is  true  in  regard  to 
Edward  C.  Pinkney  and  Philip  Pendleton  Cooke;  both 
of  whom  hold  high  rank  among  the  minor  poets. 
Pinkney,  who  died  in  his  twenty-sixth  year,  was  noted 
for  the  exquisite  taste  of  his  lyrics;  and  Cooke,  who 
was  only  thirty-three  at  the  time  of  his  death,  had 
established  his  reputation  by  his  beautiful  poems,  of 
which  "Florence  Vane"  is  the  best  known. 

Mr.  Young.     Is  it  not  true  that,  as  a  general  rule. 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  273 

letters  of  our  best  known  poets,  though  bringing  high 
prices,  are  not  rare? 

Mr.  Old.  You  state  what  I  believe  to  be  a  fact. 
I  do  not,  at  this  moment,  recall  more  than  one  name 
— that  of  Joseph  Rodman  Drake — that  is  an  excep- 
tion to  the  rule.  His  letters  are  excessively  rare;  not 
more  than  two  or  three  of  them  being  known  to  exist 
in  public  or  private  collections.  Here  you  have  an- 
other instance  of  rarity  due  to  early  death;  for  you 
know  that  Drake  did  not  survive  his  twenty-fifth  year. 

Mr.  Young.  You  told  me,  while  speaking  of  the 
Davidson  sisters,  that  Southey  ranked  them  as  the 
equals  of  Chatterton  and  Kirke  White  in  poetical 
precocity.     Are  they,  too,  very  rare  names? 

Mr.  Old.  Thomas  Chatterton's  letters  very  sel- 
dom occur;  and  when  one  is  offered  for  sale,  the  price 
asked  for  it  is  high,  say  from  seventy-five  to  one  hun- 
dred pounds.  Remember  that,  unable  to  stand  the 
conflict  with  the  extreme  poverty  to  which  he  was  re- 
duced, he  poisoned  himself  with  arsenic  when  he  was 
only  eighteen  years  of  age.  Hence  the  rarity  of  his 
letters  is  readily  accounted  for.  Henry  Kirke  White's 
letters  fall  much  below  Chatterton's  in  point  of  rarity 
and  value.  Still,  as  he  died  when  in  his  twenty-first 
year,  his  letters  must  be  rare.     The  last  one  that  I 


274  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

remember  to  have  seen  in  a  sale  catalogue  was  priced 
at  fifteen  pounds. 

Mr.  Young.  Changing  the  subject  of  conversa- 
tion, may  I  ask  you  if  it  is  not  an  odd  circumstance 
that  certain  literary  names  should  be  sought  with  such 
persistence,  while  others,  of  very  positive  merit,  suffer 
comparative  neglect?  For  instance,  there  seems  to  be 
a  rage  for  letters  of  Eugene  Field,  Bret  Harte,  Lowell, 
James  Whitcomb  Riley,  Bayard  Taylor,  Thoreau,  and 
Walt  Whitman.  Why  should  they  be  more  desirable 
than  Longfellow,  Bryant,  Halleck,  Holmes,  T.  Bu- 
chanan Read,  Whittier,  and  others  of  nearly  equal 
rank? 

Mr.  Old.  There  Is  no  way  of  accounting  for  the 
taste  of  collectors  or  for  their  preference  for  certain 
names.  Something  occurs  to  set  the  pace  In  a  certain 
direction,  and  It  keeps  up  while  the  vogue  lasts.  The 
same  thing  happens  in  England.  Dickens,  Thackeray, 
Stevenson,  Meredith,  and  a  few  others,  are  special 
favorites  at  high  prices;  while  little  attention  Is 
paid  to  such  excellent  novelists  as  Anthony  Trollope, 
Charles  Reade,  Charles  Kingsley,  Bulwer  Lytton, 
Wilkie  Collins,  Dinah  M.  Cralk,  Stanley  Weyman, 
and  many  others.  It  is  easy  to  understand  why  Dick- 
ens should  be  such  a  prime  favorite,  and  why  his 
almost  countless  letters  should  have  advanced  so  enor- 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  275 

mously  in  value  within  the  last  twenty  or  twenty-five 
years;  but  it  would  not  be  easy  to  give  a  reason — even 
a  purely  literary  reason — for  the  autographic  esteem 
accorded  to  some  writers  and  denied  to  others  of  high 
rank. 

Seventh  Conversation. 

Mr.  Young.  I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  to  deter- 
mine the  best  way  to  arrange  and  preserve  the  letters 
I  have  collected.  My  inquiries  show  me  that  col- 
lectors differ  very  much  in  their  views  on  this  ques- 
tion. A  few  of  them  mount  their  autographs  in  books; 
some  have  their  letters  inlaid,  on  Whatman  paper,  to 
a  uniform  folio  size;  while  others  place  them  loose  in 
wrappers.  Does  your  experience  enable  you  to  say 
which  one  of  these  modes  is  the  best.'* 

Mr.  Old.  Individual  tastes  diiTer  so  widely  that 
one  must  be  careful  in  making  an  ex  cathedra  statement 
on  the  question  you  ask.  As  a  general  rule,  however, 
I  should  say  that  autographs  should  never  be  mounted; 
that  is,  pasted  down  in  books.  When  so  placed,  they 
are  difficult  to  remove,  in  case  you  want  to  make  a 
change;  and,  if  you  are  not  particular  in  regard  to  the 
kind  of  paste  used,  the  letter  may  be  injured.     This 


276  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

is  particularly  true  where  gum  arabic  is  used.  It 
nearly  always  produces  a  serious  discoloration. 

In  recent  times  a  few  collectors  have  had  their 
letters  inlaid  on  large  sheets,  of  uniform  size,  of  What- 
man paper.  I  consider  this  a  most  objectionable  mode 
to  follow.  When  so  inlaid,  the  letter  is  pasted  down, 
by  the  edges,  on  all  sides;  and  then,  in  order  to  get  rid 
of  the  extra  thickness  on  the  parts  where  the  letter 
and  the  Whatman  paper  unite,  the  edges  of  the  letter 
are  pared  down.  Its  margins  are  thus  weakened;  and 
small  portions  of  words  on  the  right  hand  side,  the  top, 
and  the  bottom  of  the  letter,  are  not  unfrequently 
scraped  away.  The  pecuniary  value  of  a  letter  which 
has  been  so  treated  is  much  lessened  thereby.  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  expressing  my  unqualified  disapproval 
of  such  inlaying.  It  is  justifiable  only  where  the  let- 
ters are  to  be  bound  together  in  a  volume;  and  even 
then  a  much  better  plan  is  to  attach  the  letters  to  the 
sheets  on  which  they  are  laid  by  means  of  a  few  small 
strips  placed  on  their  left  sides,  which  serve  as  hinges. 

What,  then,  is  the  best  mode  to  adopt?  Nearly 
all  of  the  leading  American  collectors  have  followed 
the  custom,  pursued  by  the  principal  European  col- 
lectors, of  placing  their  autographs  loose  in  boxes, 
arranged  in  series.  Some  have  used  wrappers;  others 
have  not  done  so.     The  most  noted  French  and  Ger- 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  277 

man  collectors  have  had  handsome  wrappers,  of  spe- 
cial design,  containing  their  coats  of  arms,  in  which 
their  letters  were  placed,  accompanied  by  a  portrait 
of  the  person  whose  autograph  is  enclosed.  The  addi- 
tion of  a  portrait  gives  enhanced  interest  to  the  letter. 
The  two  together  bring  you  in  much  closer  contact 
with  the  writer  than  either  one  would  separately. 
The  splendid  collection  of  Alfred  Bovet  was  thus  ar- 
ranged, and  several  fine  portraits  frequently  accom- 
panied a  letter  or  document.  All  things  considered, 
I  regard  this  mode  of  keeping  autographs  as  by  far  the 
best. 

Mr.  Young.  I  have  been  reading,  with  great 
pleasure,  A4r.  Joline's  delightful  "Meditations  of  an 
Autograph  Collector."  The  concluding  words  of  the 
book  impressed  me  very  much.  He  says,  as  you 
probably  remember:  "No  one  will  ever  be  as  fond  of 
my  pets  as  I  have  been,  and  at  no  distant  day  they  will 
be  scattered  among  the  bidders  at  the  inevitable  auc- 
tion-sale which  awaits  all  collections  save  only  those 
consigned  to  perpetual  burial  in  some  library.  My 
own  association  with  them  will  be  lost  and  forgotten. 
I  look  upon  them  almost  as  one  might  upon  the  chil- 
dren whom  he  must  leave  behind  him.  They,  how- 
ever, may  remember,  while  our  cherished  autographs 
and  books,  in  serene  unconsciousness,  will  be  forever 


278  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

unmindful  of  the  fondness  which  has  been  lavished 
upon  them.  A  rare  book  will  now  and  then  retain 
the  record  of  a  tender  and  devoted  ownership,  but  an 
autograph  seldom  recalls  the  memory  of  a  chance 
possessor.  None  the  less  dear  to  me  are  these  relics 
of  the  leaders  of  life  and  of  literature.  Some  one 
will  preserve  them,  and  perhaps  may  fondle  them  as 
I  have  done.  I  trust  that  they  may  come  under  the 
protecting  care  of  a  true  collector,  a  real  antiquary — 
no  mere  bargain-hunter,  no  ^snapper  up  of  uncon- 
sidered trifles,*  but  one  endowed  with  the  capacity 
to  appreciate  whatever  things  are  worthy  of  the  af- 
fection of  the  lover  of  letters  and  of  history."  There 
is  such  a  decided  tone  of  sadness  in  these  words;  such 
an  expression  of  regret  that  his  autographic  treasures 
must  eventually  pass  into  other  hands;  that  I  fail  to 
see  why,  if  he  wanted  to  prevent  such  a  fate  from  over- 
taking them,  he  did  not  prefer  to  keep  them  together 
and  give  them  what  he  calls  "perpetual  burial  in  some 
library."  There,  at  least,  they  would  bear  his  name, 
preserve  his  memory,  and  give  pleasure  and  instruc- 
tion to  the  select  few  who,  in  future  years,  would  ask 
to  see  and  examine  them.  I  can  understand,  of  course, 
why  the  needs  of  a  man's  family  might  make  it  im- 
perative that  his  collection  should  be  sold;  but,  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Joline,  I  am  told  that  no  such  needs  existed. 


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A.   H.  JOLINE 


TALKS  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS  279 

Mr.  Old.  There  is  enough  pathos  in  Mr.  Joline's 
lament  to  stir  the  heart  of  any  collector  who,  like  him, 
has  a  positive  affection  for  his  manuscript  possessions. 
The  true  collector  is  generally  a  man  of  education  and 
refinement,  who,  until  the  close  of  his  days,  follows 
his  hobby  with  a  real  love  for  it.  There  is  pleasure- 
able  occupation  for  a  long  life  in  gathering  a  truly 
representative  collection  of  letters  of  the  great  men 
and  women  of  past  and  present  times.  From  day  to 
day,  month  to  month,  year  to  year,  these  memorials 
of  the  dead  and  the  living  fall,  one  by  one,  into  his 
hands,  rewarding  his  earnest  search  and  patient  wait- 
ing. He  gives  them  his  affectionate  care.  They  be- 
come dear  to  him,  as  his  constant  companions.  They 
give  him  joy  in  many  a  weary  hour.  They  almost 
become  part  of  his  existence.  How  any  man  whose 
pecuniary  means  would  enable  him  to  keep  these 
silent  and  constant  friends  from  being  sold  and  sepa- 
rated can  consent  to  have  them  scattered  to  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,  never  again  to  be  reunited  as  mem- 
bers of  a  family,  is  something  I  cannot  understand. 
Mr.  Dreer  gave  his  valuable  collection,  to  the  forma- 
tion of  which  he  had  given  fully  sixty  years  of  his  life, 
to  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  in  order 
that  it  might  be  there  preserved  for  all  time,  bearing 
his  name.     He  told  me  that  he  could  not  endure  the 


280  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

thought  of  its  dispersal.  Dr.  Fogg  left  his  manu- 
script possessions  to  the  Maine  Historical  Society. 
Lyman  C.  Draper  gave  the  great  mass  of  papers,  which 
he  spent  years  in  collecting,  to  the  Historical  Society 
of  Wisconsin.  Dr.  Sprague  was  anxious  that  his  im- 
mense collection  should  not  be  scattered  after  his 
death;  and  his  family  saw  that  this  wish  was  met  when 
they  determined  to  sell  the  collection  as  a  whole  to 
some  one  who  would  keep  it  together. 

No  one  will  doubt  the  truth  of  Mr.  Joline*s  thought 
that  his  "cherished  autographs,  in  serene  unconscious- 
ness, will  be  forever  unmindful  of  the  fondness  which 
has  been  lavished  upon  them" — for  they  are  inani- 
mate. But  I  cannot  agree  with  him  that  "an  auto- 
graph seldom  recalls  the  memory  of  a  chance  pos- 
sessor." The  statement  is  probably  true  in  the  case 
of  common  letters  and  such  as  are  without  historical 
or  personal  interest  or  have  not  had  a  place  in  a  col- 
lection of  note;  but  letters  that  are  rare  or  that  have 
important  contents,  often  carry  with  them  the  story 
of  the  different  hands  through  which  they  have  passed. 
Alfred  Bovet  loved  the  pieces  that  came  from  cele- 
brated collections;  and  the  beautiful  and  remarkable 
catalogue  prepared  by  Etienne  Charavay  indicates 
the  sources  from  which  many  of  his  autographs  came. 
The  names  of  Baron  de  Tremont,  Lucas  de  Montigny, 


BOOK  OF  FACSIMILED  281 

Chambry,  Benjamin  Fillon,  Alfred  Sensier,  Dubrun- 
faut,  and  others,  frequently  occur  as  former  owners  of 
pieces  named  in  the  catalogue. 

The  collection  of  the  Prince  de  Ligne  contained  a 
drawing,  sketched  in  pen  and  ink,  by  Raphael  Sanzio, 
the  superb  painter,  of  two  heads  of  horses,  with  the 
arms  of  men,  and  five  lines  in  his  handwriting,  dated 
1510.  At  his  sale,  this  drawing  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Comte  de  Fries;  thence  to  the  collection  of  Prof. 
Bohm,  of  Vienna;  thence  to  Mr.  Donnadieu,  who  had 
bought  it,  for  1000  francs,  from  a  Mons.  Hertz;  and 
thence  to  Baron  de  Tremont.  You  see,  from  this 
illustration,  that  an  autograph  may,  and  often  does, 
recall  the  memory  of  a  former  possessor. 

There  is  one  other  statement  of  Mr.  Joline's  to 
which  I  cannot  accede.  He  speaks  of  "the  inevitable 
auction-sale  which  awaits  all  collections  save  only 
those  consigned  to  perpetual  burial  in  some  library." 
Mr.  Joline's  experience  in  regard  to  collections  given 
to  Historical  Societies  and  libraries  must  have  been 
an  unfortunate  one;  otherwise  he  would  not  have 
spoken  of  them  in  words  which  imply  that  they  are 
forever  hidden  from  sight.  The  truth  is  that  they  are 
always  open  for  the  inspection  of  those  who  want  to 
see  them  as  mere  curiosities,  and  for  the  use  of  those 


282  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

who  wish,  for  historical  or  literary  purposes,  to  ex- 
amine their  contents. 

So,  while  I  am  in  full  accord  with  Mr.  Joline  in 
his  expressions  of  affection  for  the  "pets"  of  a  lifetime, 
I  must  disagree  with  him  in  his  view  of  what  is  their 
natural  and  inevitable  fate. 


APPENDIX  A. 

List  of  Books   Containing   Facsimiles   of  Auto- 
graph Letters  or  of  Mere  Signatures. 

British  Autographyy  a  Collection  of  Fac-Similes  of 
the  Handwriting  of  Royal  and  Illustrious  Personages, 
with  their  Authentic  Portraits.  By  John  Thane. 
Small  4to,  3  volumes. 

Autographs  of  Royal,  Noble,  Learned  and  Re- 
markable Personages  Conspicuous  in  English  History 
from  the  reign  of  Richard  the  Second  to  that  of  Charles 
the  Second;  with  some  Illustrious  Foreigners;  contain- 
ing many  passages  from  important  letters.  Engraved 
under  the  direction  of  Charles  John  Smith.  Accom- 
panied by  concise  biographical  memoirs  and  inter- 
esting extracts  from  the  original  documents,  by  John 
Gough  Nichols.  Folio.  London,  1829.  [A  very  val- 
uable work.] 


284  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Autographs  of  the  Kings  and  Queens,  and  Emi- 
nent Men,  of  Great  Britain,  from  the  14th  century  to 
the  present  period.  Being  Fac-Similes  taken  from 
original  documents  by  J.  Netherclift.  Oblong  folio. 
London,  1835. 

Autograph  Letters,  Characteristic  Extracts  and 
Signatures,  from  the  Correspondence  of  Illustrious 
and  Distinguished  Women  of  Great  Britain,  from  the 
XIVt*»  to  the  XIX}^  Century.  Collected  and  copied 
in  Fac-Simile  from  Original  Documents  by  J.  Nether- 
clift.    Folio.     London,  1838. 

Isographie  des  Hommes  Celebres,  ou  Collection 
de  Fac-Simile  de  Lettres  Autographes  et  de  Signatures. 
4  volumes,  4to.  Paris,  1843.  [An  invaluable  work 
to  a  collector.] 

Collection  of  One  Hundred  Characteristic  and 
Interesting  Autograph  Letters,  written  by  Royal  and 
Distinguished  Persons  of  Great  Britain,  from  the  XV. 
to  the  XVIII.  centuries.  By  J.  Netherclift  and  Son, 
1849.     [An  instructive  work.] 

The  Autograph  Miscellany:  A  Collection  of  Auto- 
graph Letters,  Interesting  Documents,  etc.  By  F. 
Netherclift,  1855. 


BOOK  OF  FACSIMILES  285 

Sale  Catalogue  of  the  manuscript  library  of  the 
late  Dawson  Turner,  Esq.  Puttick  and  Simpson, 
1859.     [Contains  many  important  facsimiles.] 

American  Historical  and  Literary  Curiosities:  Con- 
sisting of  Fac-Similes  of  some  plates,  &c.,  relating  to 
Columbus,  and  Original  Documents  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, &c.,  &c.,  with  a  variety  of  Reliques,  Antiquities 
and  Autographs.  Edited  and  arranged,  with  the 
assistance  of  several  autograph  collectors,  by  John 
Jay  Smith.  Second  Series.  Folio.  New  York: 
Charles  B.  Richardson,  1860. 

The  Book  of  the  Signers:  Containing  Fac-Simile 
Letters  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. Edited  by  William  Brotherhead.  4to.  Phil- 
adelphia, 1861. 

The  Autograph  Souvenir:  A  Collection  of  Auto- 
graph Letters,  etc.,  selected  from  the  British  Museum 
and  other  Sources  by  F.  G.  Netherclift.  With  notes 
by  R.  Sims,  of  the  British  Museum. 

American  Historical  and  Literary  Curiosities:  Con- 
sisting of  Fac-Similes  of  Original  Documents  relating 
to  the  events  of  the  Revolution,  &c.,  &c.     Collected 


286  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

and  edited  by  John  Jay  Smith  and  John  F.  Watson. 
Folio.  Sixth  edition;  with  improvements  and  addi- 
tions.   New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam,  1861. 

The  Autograph  Mirror:  Autographic  Letters  and 
Sketches  of  Illustrious  and  Distinguished  Men  of  past 
and  present  times:  Sovereigns,  Statesmen,  Warriors, 
Divines;  Historians,  Lawyers;  Literary,  Scientific, 
Artistic  and  Theatrical  Celebrities.  4to.  London 
and  New  York:  Cassell,  Petter,  and  Galpin. 

Album  de  Fac-Simile  des  Regents,  Capitaines,  et 
Hommes  D'Etat  depuis  L'An  1500  Jusqu'  en  1576. 
Dessines  sur  les  Originaux  et  Expliques  par  Charles 
Oberleitner.     4to.     Vienne,  1862. 

The  Hand-Book  of  Autographs:  Being  a  Ready 
Guide  to  the  Handwriting  of  Distinguished  Men  and 
Women  of  every  Nation.  Designed  for  the  use  of 
literary  men,  autograph  collectors,  and  others.  By 
Frederick  G.  Netherclift.  With  a  Biographical  In- 
dex, etc.,  by  Richard  Sims,  of  the  British  Museum. 
London,  John  Russell  Smith,  1862. 

The  Autographic  Mirror:  L'Autographe  Cosmopo- 
lite. Inedited  autographs  of  illustrious  and  dis- 
tinguished men  of  past  and  present  times.     Sovereigns, 


BOOK  OF  FACSIMILES  287 

Statesmen,  Warriors,  Divines,  Historians,  Lawyers, 
Literary,  Scientific,  Artistic  and  Theatrical  Celebrities. 
Lithographed  by  Vincent  Brooks,  Chandos  St.,  Char- 
ing Cross,  London.  Large  folio.  Vol.  L  Published 
Feb.  20,  1864. 

The  same.     Volume  2. 

The  Autographic  Album:  A  collection  of  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy  fac-similes  of  Holograph  writings  of 
Royal,  Noble,  and  Distinguished  Men  and  Women  of 
various  Nations.  With  biographical  notices,  and  oc- 
casional translations.  By  Lawrence  B.  Phillips,  F.  R. 
A.  S.  Lithographed  by  F.  G.  Netherclift.  Small  4to. 
London,  1866. 

The  Centennial  Book  of  the  Signers:  Being  Fac- 
simile Letters  of  each  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  By  W.  Brotherhead,  Librarian.  Folio, 
295  pages.     Philadelphia;  J.  M.  Stoddart  &  Co.,  1875. 

Inventaire  des  Autographes  et  Documents  Historiques 
Reunis  par  M.  Benjamin  Fillon.  Decrits  par  Etienne 
Charavay.  3  volumes,  4to.  Paris,  1878.  [Filled  with 
fac-similes  of  letters  and  signatures.] 

Lettres  Autographes  composant  la  Collection  de 
M.    Alfred    Bovet,    Decrites    par   Etienne   Charavay. 


288  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

A  Paris.  Librarie  Charavay  Freres.  1887.  4to,  880 
pages.  [Very  valuable  for  its  numerous  fac-similes  of 
letters  and  documents.] 

Catalogue  of  the  Collection  of  Alfred  Morrison. 
Six  sumptuous  volumes,  large  4to,  filled  with  full  page 
fac-similes.     Printed  for  private  distribution. 

Fac-Similes  of  Royal,  Historical,  Literary,  and 
other  Autographs  in  the  Department  of  Mss.,  British 
Museum.  Edited  by  George  F.  Warner.  Series  I-V, 
with  ISO  plates.     Folio.     1899. 

English  Court  Hand:  A.  D.  1066  to  1500.  Illus- 
trated chiefly  from  the  Public  Records.  By  Charles 
Johnson  and  Hilary  Jenkinson.  Text  1  vol.  8vo,  and 
a  royal  folio  volume  containing  44  reproductions. 
Oxford,  1915. 

Catalogue  of  the  Autograph  Letters  collected  by 
Henry  Huth,  and  sold  by  auction  by  Messrs.  Sotheby, 
Wilkinson  &  Hodge,  London,  on  June  12  and  13,  1911. 
[Contains  many  full-page  fac-similes.] 


APPENDIX  B. 

Convention  of  Commissioners  to  Confer  with 
THE  Six  Nations  and  Other  Friendly  Indians 
ON  Offensive  and  Defensive  Measures  against 
the  French  and  the  Indians  Acting  with 
Them.     Held  at  Albany,  October  5,  1745. 

Commissioners  from  New  York. 

Governor  George  Clinton.  \ 

Philip  Livingston.  )    Members   of   the   Execu- 

Daniel  Horsmanden.  >        tive    Council    of    New 

Joseph  Murray.  I       York. 

John  Rutherford.  / 

Commissioners  from  Massachusetts. 
Col.  John  Stoddard. 
Jacob  Wendell. 
Thomas  Berry. 
John  Choate. 
Thomas  Hutchinson. 


290  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Commissioners  from  Connecticut. 

Roger  Wolcott. 

Col.  Nathaniel  Stanley. 

Commissioners  from  Pennsylvania. 

Thomas  Lawrence. 
John  Kinsey. 
Isaac  Norris. 


APPENDIX  C. 

Delegates  to  the  Convention  Held  at  Albany, 

IN  1754. 


New  York. 


Massachusetts. 


New  Hampshire. 


James  Delancey. 
Joseph  Murray. 
Sir  William  Johnson. 
John  Chambers. 
William  Smith,  Sen. 
Samuel  Welles. 
John  Chandler. 
Thomas  Hutchinson. 
Oliver  Partridge. 
John  Worthington. 
Theodore  Atkinson. 
Richard  Wibird. 
Mesech  Weare. 
Henry  Sherburne,  Jun. 


292 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Connecticut. 

Rhode  Island. 
Pennsylvania. 


Maryland. 


William  Pitkin. 
Roger  Wolcott,  Jun. 
Elisha  Williams. 
Stephen  Hopkins. 
Martin  Howard,  Jun. 
John  Penn. 
Benjamin  Franklin. 
Richard  Peters. 
Isaac  Norris. 
Benjamin  Tasker. 
Abraham  Barnes. 


APPENDIX  D. 

Delegates  to  the  Stamp  Act  Congress,  Held  in 

1765. 


Massachusetts. 

Rhode  Island. 
Connecticut. 

New  York. 


New  Jersey. 


James  Otis,  Jun. 
Oliver  Partridge. 
Timothy  Ruggles. 
Metcalf  Bowler. 
Henry  Ward. 
Eliphalet  Dyer. 
David  Rowland. 
William  Samuel  Johnson. 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  Sen. 
John  Cruger. 
Philip  Livingston. 
William  Bayard. 
Leonard  Lispenard. 
Robert  Ogden. 
Hendrick  Fisher. 
Joseph  Borden. 


294 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Pennsylvania. 

Delaware. 
Maryland. 

South  Carolina. 


John,  Dickinson. 
John  Morton. 
George  Bryan. 
Thomas  McKean. 
Caesar  Rodney. 
William  Murdock. 
Edward  Tilghman. 
Thomas  Ringgold. 
Thomas  Lynch. 
Christopher  Gadsden. 
John  Rutledge. 


APPENDIX  E. 

Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress 
OF  1774. 


Peyton  Randolph,  President. 


New  Hampshire. 


Massachusetts. 


Rhode  Island. 


Connecticut. 


John  Sullivan. 

Nathaniel  Folsom. 

Thomas  Cushing. 

Samuel  Adams. 

James  Bowdoin.     (Did  not  attend.) 

John  Adams. 

Robert  Treat  Paine. 

Stephen  Hopkins. 

Samuel  Ward. 

Eliphalet  Dyer. 

William  Samuel  Johnson.    (Did  not 

attend.) 
Erastus  Wolcott.    (Did  not  attend.) 
Roger  Sherman. 


296  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Richard  Law.    (Did  not  attend) 

Silas  Deane. 

Joseph  Trumbull.    (Did  not  attend.) 
New  York.  Isaac  Low. 

John  Haring.     (Did  not  attend.) 

John  Alsop. 

John  Jay. 

James  Duane. 

Philip  Livingston. 

William  Floyd. 

Henry  Wisner. 

Simon  Boerum. 
New  Jersey.  James  Kinsey. 

William  Livingston. 

Stephen  Crane. 

Richard  Smith. 

John  DeHart. 
Pennsylvania.  Joseph  Galloway. 

John  Dickinson. 

Charles  Humphreys. 

Thomas  Mifflin. 

Edward  Biddle. 

John  Morton. 

George  Ross. 

Samuel  Rhoads.     (Did  not  attend.) 


4 


CONGRESS  OF  1774 


297 


Delaware. 


Maryland. 


Virginia, 


North  Carolina. 


South  Carolina. 


Caesar  Rodney. 
Thomas  McKean. 
George  Read. 
Robert    Goldsborough. 

attend.) 
Matthew  Tilghman. 
John  Rogers. 
Thomas  Johnson,  Jr. 
William  Paca. 
Samuel  Chase. 
Richard  Henry  Lee. 
Peyton  Randolph. 
George  Washington. 
Patrick  Henry,  Jr. 
Richard  Bland. 
Benjamin  Harrison. 
Edmund  Pendleton. 
William  Hooper. 
Joseph  Hewes, 
Richard  Caswell. 
Henry  Middleton. 
Thomas  Lynch. 
Christopher  Gadsden. 
John  Rutledge. 
Edward  Rutledge. 


(Did    not 


APPENDIX  F. 

Presidents  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

Elected 

Peyton  Randolph.  Sept.  5,  1774. 

Henry  MIddleton.  Oct.  22,  1774. 

Peyton  Randolph.  May  10,  1775. 

John  Hancock.  May  24,  1775. 

Henry  Laurens.  Nov.  1,  1777. 

John  Jay.  Dec.  10,  1778. 

Samuel  Huntington.  Sept.  28,  1779. 

Samuel  Johnston.  July  9,  1781. 

[Note.     On  July  10  he  declined   to  accept  the 

election,    for   reasons  that   were   satisfactory   to   the 
Congress.] 

Thomas  McKean.  July  10,  1781. 

John  Hanson.  Nov.  5,  1781. 

Elias  Boudinot.  Nov.  4,  1782. 

Thomas  Mifflin.  Nov.  3,  1783. 


PRESIDENTS  OF  CONGRESS  299 

Richard  Henry  Lee.  Nov.  30,  1784. 

John  Hancock.  Nov.  23,  1785. 

[Note.  Illness  prevented  him  from  serving,  and 
hejresigned  on  June  5,  1786.] 

Nathaniel  Gorham.  June  6,  1786. 

Arthur  St.  Clair.  Feb.  2,  1787. 

Cyrus  Griffin.  Jan.  22,  1788. 

Note.  The  following  named  members  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  were  elected  Chairmen  [Presidents 
PRO  TEM.]  of  Congress,  to  preside  during  the  absence 
of  the  President. 

John  Rutledge.  Sept.  8,  1783. 

Daniel  Carroll.  April    15,    1782.    Sept.    9, 

1783.    Nov.  3,  1783. 

Thomas  Jefferson.  March  12,  1784. 

Thomas  Stone.  June  1,  1784. 

Samuel  Holten.  Aug.  17,  1785. 

David  Ramsay.  Nov.  23,  1785. 

[He  served  until  May  15,  1786,  during  the  long 
absence  of  John  Hancock,  caused  by  his  illness.] 

Nathaniel  Gorham.  May  15,  1786. 

[He  served  until  the  first  Monday  of  June,  1786.] 

Lambert  Cadwalader.  Feb.  19,  1787. 

William  Grayson.  July  4,  1787. 


APPENDIX  G. 

Revolutionary  Cabinets. 

Comprising  the  names  of  the  persons  who  were 
elected  or  appointed  by  the  Continental  Congress  to 
administer  the  affairs  of  the  departments  of  State, 
Finance,  War,  Navy,  and  the  Post  Office  during  the 
Revolutionary  War  and  up  to  the  time  when  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  became  operative. 

Department  of  State. 

Secretary  for  foreign  affairs. 
Aug.  10,  1781.        Robert  R.  Livingston. 
May  7,  1784.  John  Jay. 


REVOLUTIONARY  CABINETS  301 

Department  of  Finance. 

Board  of  Treasury.    Commissioners  of  the  Board 
OF  Treasury. 

July  23,  1776.         George  Clymer.    Served  until  May  8, 

1777. 

Feb.  6,  1777.  Mann  Page,  Jr. 

Jonathan  Elmer. 

March  22,  1777.     Jonathan  Bayard  Smith. 
Lewis  Morris. 

May  8,  1777.  George  Walton. 

Aug.  12,  1777.        Henry  Laurens. 

Nathaniel  Folsom. 
Cornelius  Harnett. 
Eliphalet  Dyer. 

Dec.  3,  1777.  Francis  Dana. 

Benjamin  Rumsey. 
Joseph  Jones. 

June  9,  1778.  Thomas  Heyward,  Jr. 

Henry  Marchant. 
John  Wentworth. 
Roger  Sherman. 

Feb.  24,  1779.         Frederick  Frelinghuysen. 


302 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Nov.  9,  1779. 


Nov.  25,  1779. 
Dec.  13,  1779. 
April  28,  1780. 
May  9,  1780. 

May  10,  1780. 
June  23,  1780. 
July  7,  1780. 
Dec.  4,  1780. 

June  3,  1784. 


Jan.  25,  1785. 


July  27,  1785. 
Feb.  20,  1781. 


Ezeklel  Forman.  Resigned  July  24, 
1781. 

Jonathan  Trumbull,  Jr. 

William  Churchill  Houston. 

William  Sharpe. 

John  Gibson. 

William  Floyd,  vice  William  Sharpe. 

William  Denning. 

James  Duane,  vice  William  Churchill 
Houston.    Declined  the  election. 

James  Henry. 

Roger  Sherman. 

Edward  Telfair,  vice  James  Henry. 

Oliver  Wolcott.  Excused  from  serv- 
ing. 

Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer. 

Oliver  Ellsworth. 

William  Denning.  Declined  the  ap- 
pointment. 

John  Lewis  Gervais.  Declined  the 
election. 

Samuel  Osgood. 

Walter  Livingston. 

Arthur  Lee. 

Robert  Morris  was  elected  Superin- 
tendent of  Finance. 


REVOLUTIONARY  CABINETS 


303 


Department  of  War. 

Board  of  War  and  Ordinance.  Board  of  War. 
Commissioners  for  the  Board  of  War.  Secretaries  at 
War. 


Board  of  War  and  Ordinance. 


June  13,  1776. 


Sept.  11,  1776. 
March  26,  1777. 
May  8,  1777. 
July  2,  1777. 


John  Adams. 
Roger  Sherman. 
Benjamin  Harrison. 
James  Wilson. 
Edward  Rutledge. 
Francis  Lightfoot  Lee. 
George  Clymer. 
Charles  Carroll  of  CarroUton. 
William  Duer. 


Nov.  7,  1777. 


Nov.  17,  1777. 

Jan.  14,  1778. 
Dec.  22,  1778. 


Board  of  War. 

Maj.  Gen.  Thomas  Mifflin. 

Col.  Timothy  Pickering. 

Col.  Robert  H.  Harrison. 

Francis  Dana. 

Jonathan  Bayard  Smith. 

Edward  Langworthy. 

Jesse  Root,  vice  Roger  Sherman. 


304  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

April  8,  1779.         Joseph  Spencer,  vice  Francis  Light- 
foot  Lee. 
Samuel  J.  Atlee,  vice  Jesse  Root. 
Sept.  27,  1779.       Jesse  Root,  vice  Joseph  Spencer. 
Nov.  23,  1779.        Robert    R.    Livingston,    vice    Sam. 

J.  Atlee. 
April  6,  1780.         John  Morin  Scott. 

John  Matthews. 
June  23,  1780.        Gen.  Artemas  Ward,  vice  John  Mat- 
thews. 
Dec.  29,  1780.        John  Matthews. 

Commissioners  for  the  Board  of  War. 

Nov.  27,  1777.        Maj.  Gen.  Horatio  Gates,  President. 

Joseph  Trumbull. 

Richard  Peters. 
Jan.  12,  1778.         Maj.  Gen.  Thomas  Mifflin. 
June  22,  1779.        Maj.  Gen.  William  Heath. 

[On  July  27,  1779,  he  asked  to  be  excused.] 
Dec.  7,  1779.  Col.  William  Grayson. 

Dec.  29,  1780.        Ezekiel  Cornell. 

Secretaries  at  War. 
Oct.  30,  1781.         Maj.  Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln. 


REVOLUTIONARY  CABINETS  3U5 

Nov.  19,  1781.        Richard    Peters   was    authorized    to 

continue  to  exercise  the  duties  of 
the  War  Department  until  the 
Secretary  at  War  shall  enter  upon 
the  execution  of  his  office. 

March  8,  1785.       Henry  Knox. 

Navy  Department. 

Continental  Navy  Board.  Commissioners  of  the 
Board  of  Admiralty.  Secretary  of  Marine.  Agent  of 
Marine. 

Continental  Navy  Board. 

Nov.  6,  1776.         John  Nixon. 

John  Wharton.     Resigned  Jan.   11, 

1781. 
Francis  Hopkinson. 

Board  of  Assistants  to  the  Marine  Committee  for  the 
Eastern  Department. 

May  6,  1777.  William  Vernon. 

James  Warren. 

John    Deshon.      Resigned    May    7, 
1781. 


306  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

For  the  Middle  Department. 

May  9,  1778.  William  Smith.     Resigned  July  22, 

1778. 
Aug.  19,  1778.        Capt,  Nathaniel  Falconer.  Declined. 
James   Searle.     Resigned   Sept.   28, 
1778. 
Nov.  4,  1778.         James  Read. 

John  Wharton. 
William  Winder. 


Commissioners  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty. 

Nov.  26,  1779.       Thomas  Waring.    Declined  the  elec- 
tion. 
William  Whipple.     Resigned  March 
7,  1780. 
Dec.  3,  1779.  George  Bryan.     Declined  the  elec- 

tion. 
•  William  Floyd.     Resigned. 
James  Forbes. 
Dec.  7,  1779.  Francis  Lewis.      Resigned  July  17, 

1781. 
Dec.  8,  1779.  William  EUery. 

March  22,  1780.     James  Madison.    On  account  of  the 

illness  of  James  Forbes. 


REI'OLl  TIOWIkY  CJBIXETS  307 

June  6,  1780.  W^hitmiU  Hill. 

Benjamin  Huntington. 
June  23,  1780.        Thomas  Woodford. 
Nov.  7,  1780.  John  Hanson. 

William  Sharpe. 
[On  Dec.  3,  1779,  John  Brown  was  elected  Secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  and  he  was  the  actual 
head  of  the  Continental  Navy  during  the  remainder  of 
the  war.] 

Secretary  of  Marine. 
Feb.  27,  1781.         Maj.  Gen.  Alexander  McDougall. 


Agent  of  Marine. 

Sept.  7,  1781.  Robert  Morris  [as  Superintendent  of 

Finance],  until  the  close  of  the  war. 


Post  Office  Department. 

Postmasters-general. 

July  26,  1775.         Benjamin  Franklin. 
Nov.  7,  1776.  Richard  Bache. 

Jan.  28,  1782.         Ebenezer  Hazard. 


APPENDIX  H. 


Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


New  Hampshire. 


Massachusetts  Bay. 


Rhode  Island. 


Connecticut. 


New  York. 


Josiah  Bartlett. 
William  Whipple. 
Matthew  Thornton. 
Samuel  Adams. 
John  Adams. 
Robert  Treat  Paine. 
Elbridge  Gerry. 
Stephen  Hopkins. 
William  EUery. 
Roger  Sherman. 
Samuel  Huntington. 
William  Williams. 
Oliver  Wolcott. 
William  Floyd. 
Philip  Livingston. 
Francis  Lewis. 
Lewis  Morris. 


SIGNERS  OF  DECLARATION 


309 


New  Jersey, 


Pennsylvania. 


Delaware, 


Maryland. 


Virginia. 


Richard  Stockton. 

John  Witherspoon. 

Francis  Hopkinson. 

John  Hart. 

Abraham  Clark. 

Robert  Morris. 

Benjamin  Rush. 

Benjamin  Franklin. 

John  Morton. 

George  Clymer. 

James  Smith. 

George  Taylor. 

James  Wilson. 

George  Ross. 

Caesar  Rodney. 

George  Read. 

Thomas  McKean. 

Samuel  Chase. 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton. 

William  Faca. 

Thomas  Stone. 

George  Wythe. 

Richard  Henry  Lee. 

Thomas  Jefferson. 

Benjamin  Harrison. 

Thomas  Nelson,  Jr. 


310 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


North  Carolina. 


South  Carolina. 


Georgia. 


Francis  LIghtfoot  Lee. 
Carter  Braxton. 
William  Hooper. 
Joseph  Hewes. 
John  Penn. 
Edward  Rutledge. 
Thomas  Heyward,  Jr. 
Thomas  Lynch,  Jr. 
Arthur  Middleton. 
Button  Gwinnett. 
Lyman  Hall. 
George  Walton. 


APPENDIX  I. 
Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

[Note.     The  names  printed  in  italics  are  those  of  delegates  who  either  did 
not  accept  the  appointment  or  did  not  attend  any  session  of  Congress.] 

Adams,  Andrew,  Conn. 

do       John,  Mass. 

do       Samuel,  Mass, 

do       Thomas,  Va. 
Alexander,  Robert,  Md. 
Allen,  Andrew,  Pa. 
Alsop,  John,  N.  Y. 
Andrew  J  Benjamin,  Ga. 
Armstrong,  John,  Sen.,  Pa. 
Armstrong,  John,  Jr.,  Pa. 
Arnold,  Jonathan,  R.  I. 
Arnold,  Peleg,  R.  I. 
Ashe,  John  B.,  N.  C. 
Atlee,  Samuel  J.,  Pa. 
Atkinson,  George,  N.  H. 


312  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Baldwin,  Abraham,  Ga. 

Banister,  John,  Va. 

Barnwell,  Robert,  S.  C.    Attended  Jan.  1,  1789. 

Bartlett,  Josiah,  N.  H. 

Bassett,  Richard,  Del. 

Bayard,  John,  Pa. 

Beatty,  John,  N.  J. 

Bedford,  Gunning,  Sen.,  Del. 

Bedford,  Gunning,  Jr.,  Del. 

Bee,  Thomas,  S.  C. 

Bellows,  Benjamin,  N.  H.,  1781. 

Benson,  Egbert,  N.  Y. 

Beresford,  Richard,  S.  C. 

Biddle,  Edward,  Pa. 

Bingham,  William,  Pa. 

Blair,  John,  Va.,  1781. 

Blanchard,  Jonathan,  N.  H. 

Bland,  Richard,  Va. 

do     Theodoric,  Va. 
Bloodworth,  Timothy,  N.  C. 
Blount,  William,  N.  C. 
Boerum,  Simon,  N.  Y. 
Boudinot,  Elias,  N.  J. 
Bowdoin,  James,  Mass. 
Bradford,  William,  R.  I.,  1776. 
Braxton,  Carter,  Va. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  313 

Brevard,  Ephraim,  N.  C,  1781. 
Brozvn,  John,  R.  I.,  1784-5. 

do      John,  Mass. 
Brown,  John,  Va. 
Brownson,  Nathan,  Ga. 
Bull,  John,  S.  C. 
Bulloch,  Archibald,  Ga. 
Burke,  Thomas,  N.  C. 
Burnet,  William,  N.  J. 
Burton,  Robert,  N.  C. 
Butler,  Pierce,  S.  C. 
Cadwalader,  Lambert,  N.  J. 
Canfield,  John,  Conn,  1786-7. 
Carmichael,  William,  Md. 
Carrington,  Edward,  Va. 
Carroll,  Charles,  Barrister,  Md.,  1775. 

do      Charles,  of  Carrollton,  Md. 

do      Daniel,  Md. 
Caswell,  Richard,  N.  C. 
Champlin,  George,  R.  I.,  1785-6. 
Chandler,  Charles  Church,  Conn.,  1784-5. 
Chase,  Jeremiah  T.,  Md. 

do     Samuel,  Md. 
Chester,  John,  Conn.,  1787-9. 
Clark,  Abraham,  N.  J. 
Clarkson,  Matthew,  Pa. 


314  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Clay,  Joseph,  Ga. 

Clingan,  William,  Pa. 

Clinton,  George,  N.  Y. 

Clymer,  George,  Pa. 

Cocke,  Willliam,  State  of  Franklin. 

Collins,  John,  R.  I. 

Condict,  Silas,  N.  J. 

Contee,  Benjamin,  Md. 

Cooke,  Joseph  P.,  Conn. 

Cooper,  John,  N.  J. 

Cornell,  Ezekiel,  R.  I. 

Coxe,  Tench,  Pa. 

Crane,  Stephen,  N.  J. 

Gumming,  William,  N.  C. 

Gushing,  Nathan,  Mass.,  1784. 

Gushing,  Thomas,  Mass. 

Dalton,  Tristram,  Mass.,  1783.     Resigned  1784. 

Dana,  Francis,  Mass. 

Dane,  Nathan,  Mass. 

Danielson,  Timothy,  Mass.,  1781-2.     Resigned  1783. 

Dawson,  John,  Va.     Attended  Dec.  3,  1788. 

Dayton,  Elias,  N.  J. 

do       Jonathan,  N.  J. 
Deane,  Silas,  Conn. 
De  Hart,  John,  N.  J. 
De  Witt,  Charles,  N.  Y. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  315 

Dick,  Samuel,  N.  J. 
Dickinson,  John,  Pa. 

do  Philemon,  Del. 

Dow,  Moses,  N.  H.,  1784. 
Drayton,  William  Henry,  S.  C. 
Duane,  James,  N.  Y. 
Duer,  William,  N.  Y. 
Duffield,  Samuel,  Pa. 
Dyer,  Eliphalet,  Conn. 
Edwards,  Pierpont,  Conn. 

Edwards,  Timothy,  Mass.,  1778.     Resigned  1779. 
Elbert,  Gen.  Samuel,  Ga. 
Ellery,  William,  R.  I. 
Ellsworth,  Oliver,  Conn. 
Elmer,  Jonathan,  N.  J. 
Evans,  John,  Del. 
Eveleigh,  Nicholas,  S.  C. 
Fell,  John,  N.  J. 
Few,  William,  Ga. 
Fitzhugh,  William,  Va. 
Fitzsimons,  Thomas,  Pa. 
Fleming,  William,  Va. 
Floyd,  William,  N.  Y. 
Folsom,  Nathaniel,  N.  H. 
Forbes,  James,  Md. 
Forrest,  Uriah,  Md. 


316  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Foster,  Abiel,  N.  H. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  Pa. 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick,  N.  J. 

Frost,  George,  N.  H. 

Gadsden,  Christopher,  S.  C. 

Galloway,  Joseph,  Pa. 

Gansevoort,  Leonard,  N.  Y. 

Gardner,  John,  R.  I.     Attended  Feb.  12,  1789. 

Gardner,  Joseph,  Pa. 

Gardner,  Sylvester ^  R.  I.,  1787. 

Gelston,  David,  N.  Y.     Attended  Feb.  18,  1789. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  Mass. 

Gervais,  John  Louis,  S.  C. 

Gibbons,  William,  Ga. 

Giles,  Edward,  Md. 

Gillon,  Alexander,  S.  C,  1784. 

Gilman,  John  Taylor,  N.  H. 

Gilman,  Nicholas,  N.  H. 

Goldsborough,  Robert,  Md. 

Gorham,  Nathaniel,  Mass. 

Grantham,  Isaac,  Del.,  1787. 

Grayson,  William,  Va. 

Griffin,  Cyrus,  Va. 

Gunn,  James,  Ga.,  Feb.  10,  1787. 

Gwinnett,  Button,  Ga. 

Habersham,  John,  Ga. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  317 


Habersham,  Joseph,  Ga. 
Hall,  John,  Md. 
Hall,  Lyman,  Ga. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  N.  Y. 
Hancock,  John,  Mass. 
Hand,  Edward,  Pa. 
Hanson,  John,  Md. 
Hardy,  Samuel,  Va. 
Haring,  John,  N.  Y. 
Harnett,  Cornelius,  N.  C. 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  Va. 

do        William,  Md. 
Hart,  John,  N.  J. 
Hartley,  Thomas,  Pa. 
Harvie,  John,  Va. 
Hathorn,  John,  N.  Y. 
Hawkins,  Benjamin,  N.  C. 
Hazard,  Jonathan  J.,  R.  I. 
Hemsley,  William,  Md. 
Henderson,  Thomas,  N.  J, 
Henry,  James,  Va. 

do      John,  Md. 

do      Patrick,  Va. 

do      William,  Pa. 
Hewes,  Joseph,  N.  C. 
Heyward,  Thomas,  Jr.,  S.  C. 


318  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Higginson,  Stephen,  Mass. 

Hill,  Whitmill,  N.  C. 

Hillhouse,  James,  Conn.,  1786-9. 

do         William,  Conn. 
Hindman,  William,  Md. 
Holden,  Thomas,  R.  I.,  1788-9. 
Holten,  Samuel,  Mass. 
Hooper,  William,  N.  C. 
Hopkins,  Stephen,  R.  I. 
Hopkinson,  Francis,  Pa. 
Hornblower,  Joslah,  N.  J. 
Hosmer,  Titus,  Conn. 
Houston,  William  Churchill,  N.  J. 
Houstoun,  John,  Ga. 

do  William,  Ga. 

Howard,  John  E.,  Md. 
Howell,  David,  R.  I. 
Howley,  Richard,  Ga. 
Huger,  Daniel,  S.  C. 
Humphreys,  Charles,  Pa. 
Huntington,  Benjamin,  Conn. 

do  Samuel,  Conn. 

Hutson,  Richard,  S.  C. 
Ingersoll,  Jared,  Pa. 
Irvine,  William,  Pa. 
Izard,  Ralph,  S.  C. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  319 

Jackson,  David,  Pa. 

do       Jonathan,  Mass. 
Jay,  John,  N.  Y. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  Va. 
Jenifer,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas,  Md. 
Johnson,  Charles,  N.  C,  1786. 
Johnson,  Thomas,  Md. 

do       William  Samuel,  Conn. 
Johnston,  Samuel,  N.  C. 
Jones,  Allen,  N.  C. 
Jones,  Gabriel,  Va.,  June  17,  1779. 
do     Joseph,  Va. 
do     Noble  W.,  Ga. 
Jones,  Samuel,  N.  Y. 

do    Willie,  N.  C. 
Kean,  John,  S.  C. 
Kearney,  Dyre,  Del. 
King,  Rufus,  Mass. 
Kinloch,  Francis,  S.  C. 
Kinsey,  James,  N.  J. 
Langdon,  John, N.  H. 

do        Woodbury,  N.  H. 
Langworthy,  Edward,  Ga. 
Lansing,  John,  N.  Y. 
Latimer,  Henry,  Del.,  April,  1784. 
Laurance,  John,  N.  Y. 


320  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Laurens,  Henry,  S.  C. 
Law,  Richard,  Conn. 
Lee,  Arthur,  Va. 

do  Francis  Lightfoot,  Va. 

do  Henry,  Va. 

do  Richard  Bland,  Va.,  1780. 

do  Richard  Henry,  Va. 

do  Thomas  Sim,  Md. 
Lewis,  Francis,  N.  Y. 
L'Hommedieu,  Ezra,  N.  Y. 
Lincoln^  Levi,  Mass. 
Livermore,  Samuel,  N.  H. 
Livingston,  Philip,  N.  Y. 
do  Robert  R.,  N.  Y. 

do  Walter,  N.  Y. 

do  William,  N.  J. 

Lloyd,  Edward,  Md. 

do    James,  Md. 
Long,  Pierse,  N.  H. 
Lovell,  James,  Mass. 
Low,  Isaac,  N.  Y. 
Lowell,  John,  Mass. 
Lowndes,  Rawlins,  S.  C,  1779. 
Lynch,  Thomas,  Sen.,  S.  C. 

do      Thomas,  Jr.,  S.  C. 
McComb,  Eleazer,  Del. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  321 


McDougall,  Alexander,  N.  Y. 
McDowell,  Joseph,  N.  C,  1788. 
McHenry,  James,  Md. 
Mcintosh,  Lachlan,  Ga. 
McKean,  Thomas,  Pa. 
McKinly,  John,  Del.,  April,  1784. 
McLene,  James,  Pa. 
Macon,  Nathaniel,  N.  C,  1787. 
Madison,  James,  Jr.,  Va. 
Manning,  James,  R.  I. 
Manton,  Daniel,  R.  I. 
Marchant,  Henry,  R.  I. 
Martin,  Alexander,  N.  C,  1787. 
Martin,  Luther,  Md. 
Mason,  George,  Va. 
Mathews,  John,  S.  C. 
Matlack,  Timothy,  Pa. 
Mercer,  James,  Va. 

do       John  F.,  Va. 
Meredith,  Samuel,  Pa. 
Middleton,  Arthur,  S.  C. 

do        Henry,  S.  C. 
Mifflin,  Thomas,  Pa. 
Miller,  Nathan,  R.  I. 
Mitchell,  Nathaniel,  Del. 

do     Stephen  Mix,  Conn. 


322  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Monroe,  James,  Va. 
Montgomery,  John,  Pa. 
do  Joseph,  Pa. 

do  William,  Pa. 

Moore,  William,  Pa. 
Morris,  Cadwalader,  Pa. 

do      Gouverneur,  N.  Y. 

do      Lewis,  N.  Y. 

do       Robert,  Pa. 
Morton,  John,  Pa. 
Motte,  Isaac,  S.  C. 
Mowry,  Daniel,  R.  I. 
Muhlenberg,  Frederick  Augustus,  Pa. 
Mumford,  Paul,  R.  I.,  1785. 
Nash,  Abner,  N.  C. 
Neilson,  John,  N.  J. 
Nelson,  Thomas,  Jr.,  Va. 
Osborne,  Adlai,  N.  C,  1785. 
Osgood,  Samuel,  Mass. 
Otis,  Samuel  A.,  Mass. 
Paca,  William,  Md. 
Page,  Mann,  Jr.,  Va. 
Paine,  Elisha,  N.  H. 

do     Ephraim,  N.  Y. 

do     Robert  Treat,  Mass. 
Parker,  John,  S.  C. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  323 

Partridge,  George,  Mass. 
Paterson,  William,  N.  J. 
Patten,  John,  Del. 
Patterson,  Gen.  Samuel,  Del.,  1784. 
Peabody,  Nathaniel,  N.  H. 
Peery,  William,  Del. 

Pell,  Philip,  N.  Y.     Attended  March  2,  1789. 
Pendleton,  Edmund,  Va. 
Penn,  John, N.  C. 
Person,  Thomas,  N.  C,  1784. 
Peters,  Richard,  Pa. 
Pettit,  Charles,  Pa. 
Phillips,  Peter,  R.  I.,  1785. 
Pickering,  John,  N.  H.,  1788. 
Pierce,  William,  Ga. 
Pinckney,  Charles,  S.  C. 
Pinckney,  Thomas,  S.  C,  1788. 
Pitkin,  William,  Conn.,  1784-5. 
Plater,  George,  Md. 
Piatt,  Zephaniah,  N.  Y. 
Polk,  Thomas,  N.  C,  1788. 
Potts,  Richard,  Md. 
Ramsay,  David,  S.  C. 
Ramsey,  Nathaniel,  Md. 
Randolph,  Edmund,  Va. 
do        Peyton,  Va. 


324  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Read,  George,  Del. 

do    Jacob,  S.  C. 
Reed,  Joseph,  Pa. 
Reid,  James  R.,  Pa. 
Rhoads,  Samuel,  Pa. 
Ridgeley,  Richard,  Md. 
Roberdeau,  Daniel,  Pa. 
Rodney,  Caesar,  Del. 
Rodney,  Thomas,  Del. 
Rogers,  John,  Md. 
Root,  Jesse,  Conn. 
Ross,  David,  Md. 

do    George,  Pa. 
Rumsey,  Benjamin,  Md. 
Rush,  Benjamin,  Pa. 
Rutledge,  Edward,  S.  C. 

do         John,  S.  C. 
Schureman,  James,  N.  J. 
Schuyler,  Philip,  N.  Y. 
Scott,  Gustavus,  Md. 

do    John  Morin,  N.  Y. 
Scudder,  Nathaniel,  N.  J. 
Searle,  James,  Pa. 
Sedgwick,  Theodore,  Mass. 
Seney,  Joshua,  Md. 
Sergeant,  Jonathan  D.,  N.  J. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  325 

Sharpe,  William,  N.  C. 

Sherman,  Roger,  Conn. 

Shippen,  William,  Pa. 

Sitgreaves,  John,  N.  C. 

Smallwood,  Gen.  William,  Md.,  1788. 

Smith,  Benjamin,  N.  C,  1786. 

Smith,  James,  Pa. 

do     Jonathan  Bayard,  Pa. 

do     Melancton,  N.  Y. 

do     Merewether,  Va. 

do     Richard,  N.  J. 

do     Thomas,  Pa. 

do     William,  Md. 
Spaight,  Richard  Dobbs,  N.  C. 
Sparhazvk,  John,  N.  H. 
Spencer,  Joseph,  Conn. 
St.  Clair,  Arthur,  Pa. 
Stevens,  John,  Sen.,  N.  J.,  1783-4. 
Stewart,  Charles,  N.  J. 
Stirk,  Samuel,  Ga. 
Stockton,  Richard,  N.  J. 
Stokes,  John,  N.  C,  1788. 
Stone,  Thomas,  Md. 
Strong,  Caleb,  Mass. 

do     Jedediah,  Conn. 
Sturges,  Jonathan,  Conn. 


326  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Sullivan,  James,  Mass. 

do       John,  N.  H. 
Sumner,    Increase,    Mass.,    June   6,    1781.      Resigned 

June  28,  1781. 
Sumter,  Gen.  Thomas,  S.  C,  Feb.  1783. 
Swann,  John,  N.  C. 
Sykes,  James,  Del. 
Symmes,  John  Cleves,  N.  J. 
Taylor,  George,  Pa. 
Telfair,  Edward,  Ga. 
Thacher,  George,  Mass. 
Thompson,  Ebenezer,  N.  H.,  1783. 
Thornton,  Matthew,  N.  H. 
Tilghman,  Matthew,  Md. 
Tilton,  James,  Del. 
Trapier,  Paul,  Jr.,  S.  C. 
Treadwell,  John,  Conn. 
Trumbull,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  Conn. 
Trumbull,  Joseph,  Conn. 
Tucker,  Thomas  Tudor,  S.  C. 
Van  Dyke,  Nicholas,  Del. 
Varnum,  James  M.,  R.  I. 
Vining,  John,  Del. 
Wadsworth,  James,  Conn. 

do  Jeremiah,  Conn. 

Wadsworth,  Peleg,  Mass. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  327 

Walker,  John,  Va. 
Walker,  Timothy,  N.  H. 
Walton,  John,  Ga. 

do       George,  Ga. 
Ward,  Artemas,  Mass. 

do     Samuel,  R.  I. 
Warren,  James,  Mass.,  1782. 
Washington,  George,  Va. 
Wentworth,  James,  Conn. 
Wentworth,  John,  Sen.,  N.  H. 
Wentworth,  John,  Jr.,  N.  H. 
Wentworth,  Joshua,  N.  H. 
West,  Benjamin,  N.  H. 
Wharton,  Samuel,  Del. 
Whipple,  William,  N.  H. 
White,  Alexander,  N.  C. 

do     James,  N.  C.     Attended  Feb.  6,  1788. 

do     Phillips,  N.  H. 
Williams,  John,  N.  C. 

do        William,  Conn. 
Williamson,  Hugh,  N.  C. 
Willing,  Thomas,  Pa. 
Wilson,  James,  Pa. 
Wingate,  Paine,  N.  H. 
Wisner,  Henry,  N.  Y. 
Witherspoon,  John,  N.  J. 


328  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Wolcott,  Erastus,  Conn.,  1774,  1787-9. 
Wolcott,  Oliver,  Conn. 

do       Roger,  Jr.,  Conn.,  1777. 
Wood,  Joseph,  Ga. 
Wright,  Turbett,  Md. 
Wynkoop,  Henry,  Pa. 
Wythe,  George,  Va. 
Yates,  Abraham,  Jr.,  N.  Y 

do     Peter  W.,  N.  Y. 
Zubly,  John  J.,  Ga. 


APPENDIX  J. 


Signers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 


New  Hampshire. 


Massachusetts. 


Rhode  Island. 


Connecticut. 


Bartlett,  Josiah. 
Wentworth,  John,  Jr. 
Hancock,  John. 
Adams,  Samuel. 
Gerry,  Elbridge. 
Dana,  Francis. 
Lovell,  James. 
Holten,  Samuel. 
Ellery,  William. 
Marchant,  Henry. 
Collins,  John. 
Sherman,  Roger. 
Huntington,  Samuel. 
Wolcott,  Oliver. 
Hosmer,  Titus. 
Adams,  Andrew. 


330 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


New  York. 


New  Jersey. 

Pennsylvania. 


Delaware. 

Maryland. 
Virginia 


North  Carolina. 


Duane,  James. 
Lewis,  Francis. 
Duer,  William. 
Morris,  Gouverneur. 

Witherspoon,  John. 
Scudder,  Nathaniel. 

Morris,  Robert. 
Roberdeau,  Daniel. 
Smith,  Jonathan  Bayard. 
Clingan,  William. 
Reed,  Joseph. 

McKean,  Thomas. 
Dickinson,  John. 
Van  Dyke,  Nicholas. 

Hanson,  John. 
Carroll,  Daniel. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry. 
Banister,  John. 
Adams,  Thomas. 
Harvie,  John. 
Lee,  Francis  Lightfoot. 

Penn,  John. 
Harnett,  Cornelius. 
Williams,  John. 


ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION         331 

South  Carolina.      Laurens,  Henry. 

Drayton,  William  Henry. 
Mathews,  John. 
Hutson,  Richard. 
Heyward,  Thomas,  Jr. 

Georgia,  Walton,  John. 

Telfair,  Edward. 
Langworthy,  Edward. 


APPENDIX  K. 

Delegates  to  the  Annapolis  Convention, 
Sept.  1,  1786. 

[Note.    The  names  in  italics  are  those  of  delegates  who  declined  the  appoint- 
ment or  who  did  not  attend  the  Convention.] 

Rhode  Island.         Bowen,   Jabez.      See   Blake's    Biog. 

Dict'y. 
Ward,  Samuel.     See  Appleton. 

Massachusetts.        Dana,  Francis. 

Higginson,  Stephen. 

[See  "The  Collector,"  vol.  5,  No.  9,  page  142.] 

Sullivan,  James. 

Sullivan  declined  the  appointment.    See  No.  152,  Part  1,  Lefiingwell  sale. 

Lowell,  John. 
Parsons,  Theophilus, 
Gerry,  Elbridge. 


ANNAPOLIS  CONVENTION 


333 


New  York.  Hamilton,  Alexander. 

Benson,  Egbert. 

[See  "New  York  Civil  List"  and  "The  Collector,"  vol.  5,  No.  9,  page  142.) 

Duane,  James. 
Gansevoortj  Leonard. 
Livingston^  Robert  C. 
Livingston,  Robert  R. 

New  Jersey.  Clark,  Abraham. 

Schureman,  James. 

Houston,  William  Churchill. 
Pennsylvania,         Morris,  Robert. 

[See  "The  Financiers  and  Finances  of  the  American  Revolution,"  vol.  2,  page 
197,  Prof.  W.  G.  Sumner.] 

Coxe,  Tench. 
Clymer,  George. 
Armstrong,  John,  Jr. 
Fitzsimons,  Thomas. 
Maryland.  Martin,  Luther. 

Delaware.  Read,  George. 

Dickinson,  John.     Chairman  of  the 
Convention. 

Bassett,  Richard. 

Broom,  Jacob. 
Virginia.  Randolph,  Edmund. 

Madison,  James,  Jr. 

Tucker,  St.  George. 

[See  No.  2148,  Part  1,  Leffingwell  sale;  and  Virginia  Hist.     Soc.  Collections 
New  Series,  vol.  x.] 


334  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Smith,  Merewether. 
Jones,  Dr.  Walter. 
Ross,  David. 
Ronald,  William. 
Mason,  George. 

North  Carolina.      Nash,  Ahner. 
Moore,  Alfred. 

[See  No.  2124,  Part  1,  Leffingwell  sale.] 

Williamson,  Hugh. 
Blount,  John  G. 
Hawkins,  Philemon. 


APPENDIX  L. 


Signers  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
AND  Members  of  the  Federal  Convention. 

[Note.  Those  whose  names  are  printed  in  Capitals  took  their  seats  and 
signed  the  Constitution.  Those  whose  names  arc  printed  in  italics — unless  other- 
wise stated — never  accepted  their  positions  or  acted  in  any  way.) 

New  Hampshire.    John  Langdon. 
John  Pickering. 
Nicholas  Oilman. 
Benjamin  West. 

Massachusetts.        Francis  Dana. 

Elbridge  Gerry.    (Refused  to  sign.) 
Nathaniel  Gorham. 
RuFus  King. 

Caleb    Strong.      (Absent   on   day   of 
signing.) 

Connecticut.  William  Samuel  Johnson. 

Roger  Sherman. 


336 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


New  York. 


New  Jersey. 


Pennsylvania. 


Delaware. 


Oliver  Ellsworth.    (Absent  on  day  of 
signing.) 

Robert  Yates. 
Alexander  Hamilton. 
John  Lansing. 

William  Livingston. 
David  Brearley. 
William  C.  Houston. 
William  Paterson. 
John  Neilson. 
Abraham  Clark. 
Jonathan  Dayton. 

Benjamin  Franklin. 
Thomas  Mifflin. 
Robert  Morris. 
George  Clymer. 
Thomas  Fitzsimons. 
Jared  Ingersoll. 
James  Wilson. 

GOUVERNEUR   MoRRIS. 

George  Read. 
Gunning  Bedford,  Jr. 
John  Dickinson. 
Richard  Bassett. 
Jacob  Broom. 


SIGNERS  OF  CONSTITUTION 


337 


Maryland. 


Virginia. 


North  Carolina. 


James  McHenry. 

Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer. 

Daniel  Carroll. 

John  Francis  Mercer.     (Withdrew.) 

Luther  Martin.     (Withdrew.) 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton. 

Thomas  Stone. 

Thomas  Sim  Lee. 

Gabriel  Duvall. 

Robert  H.  Harrison. 

George  Washington. 

Patrick  Henry. 

Edmund    Randolph.       (DecHned    to 

sign.) 
John  Blair. 
James  Madison,  Jr. 
George  Mason.     (Declined  to  sign.) 
George  Wythe.      (Absent  on   day  of 

signing.) 
James  McClurg.     (Absent  on  day  of 

signing.) 
Richard  Henry  Lee. 
Thomas  Nelson^  Jr. 
Richard  Caszuell. 
Alexander  Martin.     (Absent  on  day 

of  signing.) 


338  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

William  R.  Davie.     (Absent  on  day 

of  signing.) 
William  Blount. 
Willie  Jones. 

Richard  Dobbs  Spaight. 
Hugh  Williamson. 

South  Carolina.      John  Rutledge. 

Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney. 
Charles  Pinckney. 
Pierce  Butler. 
Henry  Laurens. 

Georgia.  William  Few. 

Abraham  Baldwin. 

William  Pierce.     (Withdrew.) 

George  Walton. 

William    Houstoun.      (Declined    to 

sign.) 
Nathaniel  Pendleton. 


APPENDIX  M. 

Generals  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

George  Washington,  General  and  Commander-in-chief. 

Charles  Tufin  Arniand,  Marquis  de  la  Rouarie,  Brig.- 
Gen. 

John  Armstrong,  Brigadier-General. 

Benedict  Arnold,  Major-General. 

George  Baylor,  Brevet  Brigadier-General.  - 

Daniel  Brodhead,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Richard  Butler,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

John  Cadwalader,  Brigadier-General. 

Thomas  Clark,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

George  Clinton,  Brevet  Major-General. 

James  Clinton,  Brevet  Major-General. 

John  Crane,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Thomas  Conway,  Major-General. 

Elias  Dayton,  Brigadier-General. 

The  Chevalier  De  Preudhomme  De  Borre,  Brigadier- 
General. 


340  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

The    Chevalier   Matthias    Alexis    de    Roche    Fermoy, 

Brig.-General. 
John  Philip  De  Haas,  Brevet  Major-General. 
Philippe  Du  Coudray,  Major-General. 
The  Chevalier  Louis  Lebegue  Duportail,  Major-Gen- 

eral. 
Samuel  Elbert,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Christian  Febiger,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Joseph  Frye,  Brigadier-General. 
Christopher  Gadsden,  Brigadier-General. 
Horatio  Gates,  Major-General. 
John  Gibson,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Mordecai  Gist,  Brigadier-General. 
John  Glover,  Brigadier-General. 
John  Greaton,  Brigadier-General. 
Nathanael  Greene,  Major-General. 
John  Gunby,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Edward  Hand,  Brevet  Major-General.  ' 

Moses  Hazen,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
William  Heath,  Major-General. 
James  Hogun,  Brigadier-General. 
Robert  Howe,  Major-General. 
Isaac  Huger,  Brigadier-General. 
Richard  Humpton,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Jedediah  Huntington,  Brevet  Major-General. 
William  Irvine,  Brigadier-General. 


i 


GENERALS  OF  RElOLL'l'lON  341 

Henry  Jackson,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Michael  Jackson,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

John,  Baron  de  Kalb,  Major-General. 

Henry  Knox,  Major-General. 

Thaddeus  Kosciuszko,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Marquis  de  Lafayette,  Major-General. 

John  Lamb,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

The  Chevalier  de  la  Neuville,  Brevet  Brig.-Gen. 

Monsieur  de  Laumoy,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Ebenezer  Learned,  Brigadier-General. 

Charles  Lee,  Major-General. 

Andrew  Lewis,  Brigadier-General. 

Benjamin  Lincoln,  Major-General. 

Alexander  McDougall,  Major-General. 

Lachlan  Mcintosh,  Brigadier-General. 

George  Mathews,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

William  Maxwell,  Brigadier-General. 

Hugh  Mercer,  Brigadier-General. 

Thomas  Mifflin,  Major-General. 

Richard  Montgomery,  Major-General. 

James  Moore,  Brigadier-General. 

Daniel  Morgan,  Brigadier-General. 

William  Moultrie,  Major-General. 

Stephen  Moylan,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Peter  A4uhlenberg,  Brevet  Major-General. 

Francis  Nash,  Brigadier-General. 


342  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

John  Nevill,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Lewis  Nicola,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

John  Nixon,  Brigadier-General. 

Matthias  Ogden,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Samuel  H.  Parsons,  Major-General. 

John  Paterson,  Brigadier-General. 

Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  Brevet  Brig.-Gen. 

Seth  Pomeroy,  Brigadier-General. 

Enoch  Poor,  Brigadier-General. 

Casimir,  Count  Pulaski,  Brigadier-General. 

Israel  Putnam,  Major-General. 

Rufus  Putnam,  Brigadier-General. 

James  Reed,  Brigadier-General. 

Joseph  Reed,  Brigadier-General. 

William  Russell,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Philip  Schuyler,  Major-General. 

Charles  Scott,  Brevet  Major-General. 

William  Shepard,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

Elisha  Sheldon,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 

William  Smallwood,  Major-General. 

Joseph  Spencer,  Major-General. 

John  Stark,  Brevet  Major-General. 

Arthur  St.  Clair,  Major-General. 

Adam  Stephen,  Major-General. 

Baron  Steuben,  Major-General. 

Walter  Stewart,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 


GENERALS  OF  REJ'OLLTION  343 

William  Alexander,  Lord  Stirling,  Major-Gencral. 
John  Sullivan,  Major-General. 
Jethro  Sumner,  Brigadier-General. 
Heman  Swift,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
John  Thomas,  Major-General. 
William  Thompson,  Brigadier-General. 
Benjamin  Tupper,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Philip,  Van  Cortlandt,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Gozen  Van  Schaick,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
James  M.  Varnum,  Brigadier-General. 
Joseph  Vose,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Artemas  Ward,  Major-General. 
Anthony  Wayne,  Brevet  Major-General. 
Samuel  B.  Webb,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
George  Weedon,  Brevet  Major-General. 
John  Whetcomb,  Brigadier-General. 
James  Wilkinson,  Brevet  Brigadier-General. 
Otho  H.  Williams,  Brigadier-General. 
Friedrich  Wilhelm,  Baron  de  Woedtke,  Brig. -Gen. 
William  Woodford,  Brigadier-General. 
David  Wooster,  Brigadier-General. 


APPENDIX  N. 

General  Washington's  Secretaries  and  Aides-de- 
camp. 

Baylies,  Hodijah. 
Baylor,  George. 
Gary,  Richard. 
Cobb,  David. 
Custis,  John  Parke. 
Fitzgerald,  John. 
Fitzburgh,  Peregrine. 
Grayson,  William. 
Hamilton,  Alexander. 
Hanson,  Alexander  Contee. 
Harrison,  Robert  H. 
Humphreys,  David. 
Jackson,  William. 
Johnston,  George. 
Laurance,  John. 
Laurens,  John. 


IFASHINGTON'S  AIDS  345 


Lewis,  George. 
McHenry,  James. 
Meade,  Richard  K. 
Mifflin,  Thomas. 
Moylan,  Stephen. 
Palfrey,  William. 
Randolph,  Edmund. 
Reed,  Joseph. 
Smith,  Benjamin. 
Smith,  William  S. 
Thornton,  Presly  P. 
Tilghman,  Tench. 
Trumbull,  John. 
Trumbull,  Jonathan,  Jr. 
Varick,  Richard. 
Walker,  Benjamin. 
Walker,  John. 
Webb,  Samuel  B. 


s 


APPENDIX  O. 

Presidents   and   Vice-Presidents^^of   the   United 

States. 

Presidgnts. 

Washington,  George. 
Adams,  John. 
JeflFerson,  Thomas. 
Madison,  James. 
Monroe,  James. 
Adams,  John  Quincy. 
Jackson,  Andrew. 
Van  Buren,  Martin. 
Harrison,  William  Henry. 
Tyler,  John. 
Polk,  James  K. 
Taylor,  Zachary. 
Fillmore,  Millard. 
Pierce,  Franklin. 


PRESIDENTS  AND  VICE-PRESIDENTS  347 

Buchanan,  James. 
Lincoln,  Abraham. 
Johnson,  Andrew. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S. 
Hayes,  Rutherford  B. 
Garfield,  James  A. 
Arthur,  Chester  A. 
Cleveland,  Grover. 
Harrison,  Benjamin. 
Cleveland,  Grover. 
McKinley,  William. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore. 
Taft,  William  H. 
Wilson,  Woodrow. 

Vice-Presidents  of  the  United  State Sy  and  Presidents  pro 
tempore  of  the  U.  S.  Senate  who  were  Acting  Vice- 
Presidents. 

Adams,  John. 

Jefferson,  Thomas. 

Burr,  Aaron. 

Clinton,  George. 

Crawford,   William    H.,   Acting   Vice-Pres.    after    the 

death  of  Clinton. 
Vamum,  Joseph   B.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  from   Dec.  6, 

1813,  to  April  7,  1814. 


348  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Gerry  Elbridge. 

Gaillard,  John,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after  the   death   of 

Gerry. 
Tompkins,  Daniel  D. 
Calhoun,  John  C. 
White,    Hugh    Lawson,    Acting    Vice-Pres.    after   the 

resignation  of  Calhoun. 
Van  Buren,  Martin. 
Johnson,  Richard  M. 
Tyler,  John. 
Southard,  Samuel  L.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  part  of 

Tyler's  Presidency. 
Mangum,  Willie  P.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  part  of 

Tyler's  Presidency. 
Dallas,  George  M. 
Fillmore,  Millard. 

King,  William  R.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  the  Presi- 
dency of  Fillmore. 
King,  William  R. 
Atchison,  David  R.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after  the  death 

of  King. 
Mason,  James  M.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after  the  death 

of  King. 
Cass,    Lewis,    Acting   Vice-Pres.    after    the    death   of 

King. 


PRESIDENTS  AND  VICE-PRESIDENTS  349 

Bright,  Jesse   D.,  Acting  \  ice-Pres.  alter  the  death  uf 

King. 
Stuart,  Charles  E.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after   the   death 

of  King. 
Breckenridge,  John  C. 
Hamlin,  Hannibal. 
Johnson,  Andrew. 
Foster,  Lafayette  S.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  part  of 

Johnson's  Presidency. 
Wade,  Benjamin  F.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  part  of 

Johnson's  Presidency. 
Colfax,  Schuyler. 
Wilson,  Henry. 
Ferry,  Thomas  W.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after  the  death 

of  Wilson, 
Wheeler,  William  A. 
Arthur,  Chester  A. 
Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  part  of 

Arthur's  Presidency. 
Davis,    David,    Acting    Vice-Pres.    during     part     of 

Arthur's  Presidency. 
Edmunds,  George  F.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  during  part  of 

Arthur's  Presidency. 
Hendricks,  Thomas  A. 
Sherman,  John,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after   the  death  of 

Hendricks. 


350  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Ingalls,  John  Jay,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after   the  death 

of  Hendricks. 
Morton,  Levi  P. 
Stevenson,  Adlai  E. 
Hobart,  Garrett  A. 
Frye,  William  P.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after  the  death  of 

Hobart. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore. 
Frye,  William  P.,  Acting  Vice-Pres.  after  Roosevelt's 

accession  to  the  Presidency. 
Fairbanks,  Charles  W. 
Sherman,  James  S. 
Marshall,  Thomas  R. 


APPENDIX  P. 

Speakers  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives. 

Muhlenberg,  Frederick  Augustus. 

Trumbull,  Jonathan. 

Dayton,  Jonathan. 

Dent,  George. 

Sedgwick,  Theodore. 

Macon,  Nathaniel. 

Varnum,  Joseph  B. 

Clay,  Henry. 

Cheves,  Langdon. 

Taylor,  John  W. 

Barbour,  Philip  P. 

Stevenson,  Andrew. 

Hubbard,  Henry. 

Bell,  John. 

Polk,  James  K. 


352  BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 

Hunter,  R.  M.  T. 

White,  John. 
Jones,  John  W. 
Hopkins,  George  W. 
Davis,  John  W. 
Winthrop,  Robert  C. 
Burt,  Armistead. 
Cobb,  Howell. 
Boyd,  Lynn. 
Banks,  Nathaniel  P. 
Orr,  James  L. 
Pennington,  William. 
Grow,  Galusha  A. 
Colfax,  Schuyler. 
Pomeroy,  Theodore  M. 
Blaine,  James  G. 
Kerr,  Michael  C. 
Randall,  Samuel  J. 
Keifer,  J.  Warren. 
Carlisle,  John  G. 
Reed,  Thomas  B. 
Crisp,  Charles  F. 
Henderson,  David  B. 
Cannon,  Joseph  G. 
Clark,  Champ. 


APPENDIX  Q. 

Delegates   to   the    "Peace"    Congress    Held   at 
Washington  in  1861. 


Maine 


New  Hampshire. 


Vermont. 


William  P.  Fessenden. 
Lot  M.  Morrill. 
Daniel  E.  Somes. 
John  J.  Perry. 
Ezra  B.  French. 
Freeman  H.  Morse. 
Stephen  Coburn. 
Stephen  C.  Foster. 
Amos  Tuck. 
Levi  Chamberlain. 
Asa  Fowler. 
Hiland  Hall. 
Levi  Underwood. 
H.  Henry  Baxter. 
Lucius  E.  Chittenden. 
B.  D.  Harris. 


354 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Massachusetts. 


Rhode  Island. 


Connecticut. 


New  York. 


John  Z.  Goodrich. 
Charles  Allen. 
George  S.  Boutwell. 
Theophilus  P.  Chandler. 
Francis  B.  Crowninshield. 
John  M.  Forbes. 
Richard  P.  Waters. 
Samuel  Ames. 
Alexander  Duncan. 
William  W.  Hoppin. 
George  H.  Browne. 
Samuel  G.  Arnold. 
Roger  S.  Baldwin. 
Chauncey  F.  Cleveland. 
Charles  J.  McCurdy. 
James  T.  Pratt. 
Robbins  Battell. 
Amos  S.  Treat, 
David  Dudley  Field. 
William  Curtis  Noyes. 
James  S.  Wadsworth. 
James  C.  Smith. 
Amaziah  B.  James. 
Erastus  Corning. 
Francis  Granger. 
Greene  C.  Bronson. 


PEACE  CONGRESS  OF  1S61 


355 


New  Jersey. 


Pennsylvania. 


Delaware, 


William  E.  Dodge. 
John  A.  King. 
John  E.  Wool. 

Addison  Gardiner.    Declined  the  ap- 
pointment. 
Charles  S.  Olden. 
Peter  D.  Vroom. 
Robert  F.  Stockton. 
Benjamin  Williamson. 
Joseph  F.  Randolph. 
Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen. 
Rodman  M.  Price. 
William  C.  Alexander. 
Thomas  J.  Stryker. 
James  Pollock. 
William  M.  Meredith. 
David  Wilmot. 
A.  W.  Loomis. 
Thomas  E.  Franklin. 
William  McKennan. 
Thomas  White. 
George  B.  Rodney. 
Daniel  M.  Bates. 
Henry  Ridgely. 
John  W.  Houston. 
William  Cannon. 


356 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Maryland. 


Virginia. 


North  Carolina. 


Tennessee. 


John  F.  Dent. 
Reverdy  Johnson. 
John  W.  Crisiield. 
Augustus  W.  Bradford. 
William  T.  Goldsborough. 
J.  Dixon  Roman. 
Benjamin  C.  Howard. 
John  Tyler. 
William  C.  Rives. 
John  W.  Brockenbrough. 
George  W.  Summers. 
James  A.  Seddon. 
George  Davis. 
Thomas  Ruffin. 
David  S.  Reid. 
D.  M.  Barringer. 
J.  M.  Morehead. 
Samuel  Milligan. 
Josiah  M.  Anderson. 
Robert  L.  Carruthers. 
Thomas  Martin. 
Isaac  R.  Hawkins. 
A.  W.  O.  Totten. 
R.  J.  McKinney. 
Alvin  Cullom. 
William  P.  Hickerson. 


PEACE  CONGRESS  OF  1861 


357 


Kentucky. 


Missouri. 


Ohio. 


Indiana. 


George  W.  Jones. 
Felix  K.  Zollicoffer. 
William  H.  Stephens. 
William  O.  Butler. 
James  B,  Clay. 
Joshua  F.  Bell. 
Charles  S.  Morehead. 
James  Guthrie. 
Charles  A.  Wickliffe. 
John  D.  Coalter. 
Alexander  W.  Doniphan. 
Waldo  P.  Johnson. 
Aylett  H.  Buckner. 
Harrison  Hough. 
Salmon  P.  Chase. 
William  S.  Groesbeck. 
Franklin  T.  Backus. 
Reuben  Hitchcock. 
Thomas  Ewing. 
Valentine  B.  Horton. 
C.  P.  Wolcott. 
John  C  Wright. 
Caleb  B.  Smith. 
Pleasant  A.  Hackleman. 
Godlove  S.  Orth. 
E.  W.  H.  Ellis. 


358 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Illinois. 


Iowa. 


Kansas. 


Wisconsin. 


Thomas  C.  Slaughter. 
John  Wood. 
Stephen  T.  Logan, 
John  M.  Palmer. 
Burton  C.  Cook. 
Thomas  J.  Turner. 
James  Harlan. 
James  W.  Grimes. 
Samuel  R.  Curtis. 
William  Vandever. 
Thomas  Ewing,  Jr. 
J.  C.  Stone. 
Henry  J.  Adams. 
Martin  F.  Conway. 
Cadwalader  C.  Washburn. 
John  F.  Potter. 
James  R.  Doolittle. 
Charles  Durkee. 
Charles  Billinghurst. 


They 
did  not 
attend. 


APPENDIX  R. 


Members  of  the  First  Congress  Under  the 
Constitution. 


New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts. 
Rhode  Island. 
Connecticut. 
New  York. 
New  Jersey. 

Pennsylvania. 

Delaware. 

Maryland. 


Senators. 

John  Langdon. 

Paine  Wingate. 

Tristram  Dalton. 

Caleb  Strong. 

Theodore  Foster. 

Joseph  Stanton,  Jun. 

Willian  Samuel  Johnson. 

Oliver  Ellsworth. 

Rufus  King. 

Philip  Schuyler. 

Jonathan  Elmer. 

William  Paterson. 

Philemon  Dickinson. 

William  Maclay. 

Robert  Morris. 

Richard  Bassett. 

George  Read. 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton. 

John  Henry. 


360 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Virginia. 


North  Carolina. 
South  Carolina. 
Georgia. 


William  Grayson. 
Richard  Henry  Lee. 
John  Walker. 
James  Monroe. 
Benjamin  Hawkins. 
Samuel  Johnston. 
Pierce  Butler. 
Ralph  Izard. 
William  Few. 
James  Gunn. 


Massachusetts. 


Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

New  Hampshire.     Nicholas  Gilman. 
Samuel  Livermore. 
Abiel  Foster. 
Fisher  Ames. 
Elbridge  Gerry. 
Benjamin  Goodhue. 
Jonathan  Grout. 
George  Leonard. 
George  Partridge. 
George  Thacher. 
Theodore  Sedgwick. 
Benjamin  Bourn. 
Benjamin  Huntington. 
Roger  Sherman. 


Rhode  Island 
Connecticut. 


CONGRESS  Of  17 H9 


361 


New  York. 


New  Jersey. 


Pennsylvania. 


Delaware. 
Maryland. 


Jonathan  Sturges. 
Jonathan  Trumbull. 
Jeremiah  Wadsworth. 
Egbert  Benson. 
William  Floyd. 
John  Hathorn. 
Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer. 
John  Laurance. 
Peter  Sylvester. 
Elias  Boudinot. 
Lambert  Cadwalader. 
James  Schureman. 
Thomas  Sinnickson. 
George  Clymer. 
Thomas  Fitzsimons. 
Thomas  Hartley. 
Daniel  Hiester. 
Fred.  Aug.  Muhlenberg. 
Peter  Muhlenberg. 
Thomas  Scott. 
Henry  Wynkoop. 
John  Vining. 
Daniel  Carroll. 
Benjamin  Contee. 
George  Gale. 
Joshua  Seney. 


362 


BOOK  ABOUT  AUTOGRAPHS 


Virginia. 


North  Carolina. 


South  Carolina. 


Georgia. 


William  Smith. 
Michael  Jenifer  Stone. 
Theodoric  Bland. 
John  Brown. 
Isaac  Coles. 
Samuel  Griffin. 
Richard  Bland  Lee. 
James  Madison,  Jun. 
Andrew  Moore. 
John  Page. 
Alexander  White. 
Josiah  Parker. 
William  B.  Giles. 
John  Baptiste  Ashe. 
Timothy  Bloodworth. 
John  Sevier. 
John  Steele. 
Hugh  Williamson. 
CEdanus  Burke. 
Daniel  Huger. 
William  Laughton  Smith. 
Thomas  Sumter. 
Thomas  Tudor  Tucker. 
Abraham  Baldwin. 
James  Jackson. 
George  Mathews. 


INDEX 


Figures  in  Italics  indicate  pages  wliere  auction  prices  of  autographs  are  given; 

Bold-face  figures  indicate  pages  where  names  appear  in  official  lists.     All  other 

references  are  indicated  by  plain  type. 


V 


INDEX 


365 


Abbreviations,  10 

Abelard,  46 

Abington,  Frances,  94,  188 

Adams,  Andrew,  311,  329 

Adams,  Henry  J.,  358 

Adams,  John,  77,  202,  215,  295.   303, 

308,  311,  346,  347 
Adams,  John  Quincv,  346 
Adams,  Samuel,  77,  295,  308,  311,  329; 

collection,  221 
Adams,  Thomas,  311,  330 

Autograph  rare,  264 
Addington,  Samuel,  126,  129-130,  156, 

157,  237 
Addison,  Joseph,  22,  71,  93,  124,  175 
Admiralty,  Revolutionary  Board  of,  306, 

307 
^schylus,  15,  47 

Aides-de-Camp  to  Washington,  344-345 
Aiguillon,  Duke  of,  99 
Alba  Amicorum,  17,  18,  19,  20 

Facsimiles  from,  19 
Albany  Convention,  191,  198,  220,  226, 
249,  291-292 

Mistakes  of  identity,  249 

Scarce  autographs,  264,  265 
Albert,  Charles  d' — see  Luynes. 
Albret,  Henri  d',  126 
Albret,  Jeanne  d',  96,  104,  114,  127,  140 
Album  de  Fac-Simile,  286 
Album,  Roman,  17 
Alcibiades,  46 
Alcuin,  47 

Alden,  John,  ^^0,  203 
Aldobrandini,    Hippolyte — see    Clement 

VIII. 
Alenfon,  Ducd',  20,  110 
Alexander  the  Great,  46;  spurious  letter, 

51 
Alexander  VI.,  Pope,  96, 97,  1 10,  1 1 1,  148 
Alexander,  Robert,  311 
Alexander,  William  C,  355 
Alfieri,  174 
Allen,  Andrew,  311 
Allen,  Charles,  354 
Allen,  Mrs.  E.  H.,  170 
Allen,  Ethan,  188;  papers,  224 
Allen,  Ira,  papers,  224 
Almagro,  Don  Diego  de,  162 
Alsop,  John,  296,  311 
Alva,  Fernando,  Duke  of,  162,  111 
Amboise,  Georges,  Cardinal  d',  138 


American  Antiquarian,  82 

American  Antiquarian  Society,  210-211; 
Handbook  of  Information,  211 

American  Collectors,    170-207;   Public, 
210-229 

American  Historical  and  Literary  Curiosi- 
ties, 285-286 

American  Poets,  270 

Amerigo  Vespucci,  22 

Ames,  Fisher,  215,  360 

Ames,  Samuel,  354 

Amiens,  Treaty  of,  14 

Among  my  Autographs,  8 

Anacreon,  47 

Anderdon,  73 

Anderdon,  John  L.,  88 

Anderson,  Josiah  M.,  356 

Andre,  John,  75,  76,  193,  193,  204 
MS.  of  Cow  Chace,  216 
Papers,  223 
Letter  Book,  217 

Andrew,  Benjamin,  311 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  188,  203 

Angus,  James,  56 

Annapolis  Convention,  191,  220;  Dele- 
gates, 332-334 

Anne  of  Austria,  96 

Anne  of  Bretagne,  111,  138 

Anne  of  France,  138 

Anne,  Queen  of  England,  177 

Anson,  Admiral,  93 

Appendices,  283-363 

Aquila,  Caspar,  189 

Arbuthnot,  175 

Arc,  Jfeanne  d' — see  Jeanne. 

Arcesilaus,  47 

Archdale,  John,  papers,  213 

Archimedes,  47 

Archivist,  29,  71 

Aretino,  Pietro,  96,  149 

Ariosto,  Ludovico,  47,  134,  162 

Aristotle,  47,  51 

Arlington,  Lord,  100 

Armand,  Gen.  Charles  Tufin,  339 

Armstrong,  John,  Sr.,  311 

Armstrong,  John,  Jr.,  311,  333 

Armstrong,  Gen.  John,  339 

Arne,  Dr.,  123 

Arnold,  Benedict,  76, 183,  193,  201,206, 
211,  248,  339;  Letter  Book,  216 
Autograph  recherch6,  266 

Arnold,  Jonathan,  311 


366 


INDEX 


Arnold,  Peleg,  311 

Arnold,  Samuel  G.,  354 

Artaignan,  Comte  d',  162 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  347,  349 

Articles    of    Confederation,    191,    220; 

Signers,  329-331 
Ashe,  John  B.,  311,362 
Aske,  Robert,  96 
Atchison,  David  R.,  348 
Atkinson,  George,  291,  311 
Atkinson,  Theodore,  291 
Atlee,  Samuel  J.,  304,  311 
Atossa,  16 
Attila,  47 
Auction  sales  of  note — see  Collections  and 

Collectors. 
Auctioneers — see  Evans,  Henkels,  Put- 

tick  i£  Simpson,  Sotheby. 
Augustus,  16 
Austin,  Ben  W.,  35-38 
Austin,  Jane,  218 

Authors — see     Blackburn     fc?     Caddell, 
Brotherhead,    Davey,    Howell,    Joline, 

Netherclift,  Nichols,  Scott,  Sims,  Thane, 

fValsh,  fValton. 
Autograph  dealers — see  Dealers. 

imposters,  28-38 
Autograph  Letters,  284 
Autograph  Mirror,  286 
Autograph  Miscellany,  284 
Autograph  Souvenir,  285 
Autographic  Album,  287 
Autographic  Mirror,  286 
Autographs  of  the  Kings  and  Queens,  etc., 

284 
Autographs  of  Royal,  Noble,  Learned  and 

Remarkable  Personages,  etc.,  283 
Autographs — Taste  for  collecting,  13 

What  determines  their  value,  22 

Requests  for,  26 

Spurious,  40-68 

Progressive  increase  in  values,  69 

Collectors  of — see  Collectors. 

Dealers  in,  79-84 

Migration  of,  230 

Pedigrees  of,  230 

Should  not  be  mounted  or  inlaid.  275, 
276 

Care  of,  275-277 

Prices  of,  69 

Conversations  about,  240-282 
Avanches,  Bishop  of,  115 


Bach,  204 

Bache,  Richard,  307 

Backus,  Franklin  T.,  357 

Bacon,  Francis,  96,  128,  132,  166,  \1S, 

204,  207,  259 

Handwriting  changed  with  maturity, 

253  " 

Facsimiles   of  handwriting,  opposite 

page  253 

Baillie,  Joanna,  174 

Baker  sale,  25,  237 

Balafr6 — see  Guise. 

Baldwin,  Abraham,  312,  338,  362 

Baldwin,  Roger  S.,  354 

Ballantyne,  James,  166 

Baltimore,  Lord,  178 

Baluze,  Etienne,  86 

Balzac,  Jean  Louis  Guez  de,  89,  134 

Bancroft,  George,  221;  collection,  221 

Banister,  John,  312,  330 

Banks,  176 

Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  352 

Bannister,  176 

Barbaroux,  70 

Barbauld,  Mrs.,  174 

Barbour,  Philip  P.,  351 

Barclay  papers,  220 

Barker,  Frederick,  81 

Barnes,  Abraham,  292;  autograph  ex- 
tremely rare,  265 

Barnes,    Abraham — not    the    desirable 
autograph,  265 

Barnevelt,  Johann  van  Olden,  128 

Barney,  Dr.  Charles  G.,  268-269 

Barnwell,  Robert,  312 

Barringer,  D.  M.,  356 

Barry,  Spranger,  95 

Bartelet,  Mr.,  88 

Bartlett,  Josiah,  194,  308,  312,  329 

Barton,  174 

Bassano,  Due  de,  105 

Bassett,  Richard,  312,  333,  336,  359 

Bassompierre,  Marshall,  111 

Bates,  Daniel  M.,  355 

Battell,  Robbins,  354 

Baude,  Charles,  Marquis  de,  113 

Baxter,  H.  Henry,  353 

Baxter,  Richard,  124 

Bayard,  42,  138 
Bayard,  John,  312 
Bayard,  Pierre,  111 
Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  349 


INDEX 


367 


Bayard,  William,  293 

Baylies,  Hodijah,  344 

Baylor,  Col.  George,  247,  339,  344 

Beattie,  James,  176 

Beatty,  John,  312 

Beauharnais,  Josephine  de,  138,  165 

Beaumarchais,  176 

Beaumont,  Comte  de — see  Marillac. 

Beaumont,  M.  de,  114 

Beauregard,  Gen.,  212 

Bedford,  Gunning,  312;  confused  with  a 

carpenter  of  the  same  name,  248 
Bedford,  Gunning,  Jr.,  312,  336 
Bee,  Thomas,  312 
Beechey,  176 
Beethoven,  Ludwig  von,  72, 137, 184, 

189,  204 
Belisarius,  47 
Bell,  John,  351 
Bell,  Joshua  F.,  357 
Bellamy,  George  Anne,  94 
Bellay,  Cardinal  du,  120 
Bellievre,  Pomponne  de,  96 
Bellows,  Benjamin,  312 
Belzoni,  175 
Benjamin,  Park,  83 
Benjamin,  Walter  R.,  83 
Benjamin,  William  Evarts,  83 
Benson,  Egbert,  312,  333,  351 
Bentham,  Jeremy,  175 
Benton,  Thomas  H.,  papers,  218 
Beranger,  31 
Beresford,  Richard,  312 
Berkeley,  175 

Berlichingen,  Gotz  von,  M7,  153 
Berlin  Library,  209 
Berry,  Thomas,  289 
Berulle,  Pierre,  Cardinal,  97 
Bethune,  Hippolyte  de,  85 
Bethune,  Philippe  de,  85 
Beza,  Theodore,  97,  111 
BibliothSque    Nationale,    86,    208-209, 

210,  243 
Bichat,  Franfois  Xavier,  139 
Bichet,  70 

Biddle,  Edward,  296,  312 
Billinghurst,  Charles,  358 
Bindley,  James,  88 
Bingham,  William,  267,  312 
Biron,  Armand  de  Gontaut,  Due  de.  Ill 
Biron,  Charles  de  Gontaut,  Due  de,  97 
Bixby,  W.  H.,  collection,  218 


Ulackburn  &  Caddcll   -  The  Detection  of 

Forgery,  261 
Black  Prince,  233 
Blackmore,  Sir  R.,  94 
Blackstone,  Sir  William,  81,  93 
Blaine,  James  G.,  352 
Blair,  John,  200,  312,  337 

Autograph  rare,  265 
Blair,  Robert,  124 
Blake,  Admiral  Robert,  93,  127 
Blake,  William,  94 
Blanchard,  Jonathan,  312 
Bland,  Richard,  297,  312 

Autograph  rare,  264 
Bland,  Theodoric,  312,  362 
Bloodworth,  Timothy,  312,  362 
Blount,  John  G.,  334 
Blount,  William,  312,  338 
Blumenbach,  176 
Boccacio,  47 
Boerner,  C.  G.,  82 
Boerum,  Simon,  268,  296,  312 

Autograph   formerly   extremely   rare, 
268 
Bohemia,  Queen  of,  98,  128 
Bohm,  Professor,  231,  281 
Boileau-Despreaux,  Nicholas,  43,  47,  97, 

111,  128,139,  166 
Boisjourdain,  Comte  de,  46 
Boleyn,  Anne,  50,  120 
Bolivar,  Simon,  97 
Bolton,  Rev.  Robert,  88 
Bonaparte — see  Napoleon. 
Bonaparte  Family,  177 
Bonaparte,  Charles  de,  139 
Bonaparte,  Letizia,  167,  111 
Bonaparte,  Lucien,  111,  167 
Bonaparte,  Madame,  111 
Bonnivet,  138 
Bonpland,  176 

Books  with  facsimiles,  283-288 
Book  of  the  Signers,  285 
Booksellers — see  Dealers. 
Boone,  Daniel,  191,  202 
Booth,  Barton,  94 
Booth,  John  Wilkes,  21 
Bora,  Katharina  von,  154 
Borden,  Joseph,  293 
Borgia,  Caesar,  P7,  111,/^.? 
Borgia,  Lucretia,  148,  149,  162,  204 
Borgia,  Roderigo — see  Alexander  VI. 
Boswell,  James,  93 


368 


INDEX 


Bothwell,  55 

Botta,  175 

Boucicaut,  Jean  La  Maigre,  Sire  de,  112 

Boudinot,  Elias,  298,  312,  361 

Bouillon,  Due  de,  105 

Bouillon,  Duchesse  de,  169 

Bouillon,  M.  de,  103 

Bourbon,  Charles  II.,  Cardinal  de,  112, 

126 
Bourbon,  Matthieu  de,  112 
Bourepaux,  M.  de,  117 
Bourn,  Benjamin,  360 
Bouthiller,  M.  de,  97 
Boutwell,  George  S.,  354 
Bouver,  Benjamin, 
Bovet,  Alfred,  87,  143,  280;  collection, 

42,   143-146,  231,  277;  sale,  72,  73; 

catalogue,  287 
Bowdoin,  James,  295,  312 
Bowen,  Jabez,  332 
Bowler,  Metcalf,  293 
Bowring,  174 
Boyd,  Lynn,  352 
Boyer,  177 

Boyle,  Robert,  45,  93,  94,  123 
Bracegirdle,  Anne,  94 
Braddock,  Gen.  Edward,  177,  191 
Bradford,  Augustus  W.,  356 
Bradford,  William  (Mass.),  203 
Bradford,  William  (R.  I.),  312 
Brande,  Gustavus,  88 
Brant,  Sebastian,  151 
Brawne,  Fanny,  23,  169,  218,  238,  240 
Braxton,  Carter,  77,  310,  312 
Brearley,  David,  336 
Breckenridge,  John  C,  349 
Bremer,  Frederica — MS.  oi  Hertha,  216 
Brevard,  Ephraim,  313;  autograph  very 

rare,  263 
Brewster,  Sir  David,  46 
Br6ze,  Marshall  de.  111 
Brienne,  Antoine  Lomenie  de,  86 
Bright,  Jesse  D.,  349 
British  Autography,  by  John  Thane,  87, 

283 
British  Museum  Collection,  20,  86,  210, 

243 
Brittany,  Duke  of,  166 
Brockenbrough,  John  W.,  356 
Brodhead,  Gen.  Daniel,  339 
Bronson,  Greene  C,  354 
Bront^,  Charlotte,  218 


Brooks,  Vincent,  287 

Broom,  Jacob,  333,  336 

Brotherhead's  Book  oj  the  Signers,  64, 

285,  287 
Brown,  Alexander,  55 
Brown,  Jacob,  papers,  213 
Brown,  John,  307 
Brown,  John  (Mass.),  313 
Brown,  John  (R.  I.),  313 
Brown,  John  (Va.),  313,  362 
Brown,  Moses,  papers,  227 
Browne,  George  H.,  354 
Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  93,  124,  127,  162, 

204 
Brownson,  Nathan,  313 
Bruyere,  Jean  de  la,  209 
Bryan,  George,  293,  306 
Bryant,  William  Cullen,  274 
Buchanan,  James,  226,  347 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  22,  97,  123,  127, 

Buckingham,  Marquis  of,  132 

Buckner,  Aylett  H.,  357 

Bueil,  Honorat  de— see  Racan, 

Bugenhausen,  260 

Bull,  John,  313 

Bulloch,  Archibald,  313 

Bulstrode,  Sir  Richard,  160 

Bulwer,  175 

Buonarotti — see  Michelangelo. 

Burghley,  William  Cecil,  Lord,  97, 106 

Burgoyne,  Gen.  John,  201 

Burke,  Edmund,  58,  95,  175 

Burke,  QEdanus,  362 

Burke,  Thomas  (N.  C),  313 

Burnett,  William,  313 

Burnev,  Fanny — see  D'Arblay. 

Burns,'  Charles  De  F.,  82,  83 

Burns,  Robert,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59, 
60,  71,  94,  124,  128, 156, 165, 168, 202, 
204,221;  Forgeries,  54,  55 

Burr,  Aaron,  185,  217,  347 

Facsimiles,  251;  Papers,  213;  Differ- 
ences in  his  handwriting,  250-252 

Burt,  Armistead,  352 

Burton,  Robert,  204,  313 

Butler,  Pierce,  313,  338,  360 

Butler,  Gen.  Richard,  339 

Butler,  William  O.,  357 

Byron,  "George  Gordon,"  53,  54 


INDEX 


369 


Byron,  Lord,  53,  54,  72,  93,  94,  124,  J-fS, 
USJ68, 173, 1 74, /PAi'i^?,  204;  Letter 
to  Galignani,  68 

Byron,  Pseudo,  53,  54 

Cabinet  Officers,  25,  244 

Cabinet  Officers — see  Revolution. 

Cabot,  George,  215 

Cadell,  W.  W.,  57 

Cadell  &  Davies,  108 

Cadoudal,  Georges,  139 

Cadwalder,  John,  339 

Cadawalder,  Lambert,  299,  313,  361 

Ciesar,  47,  48 

Cagliari,  Paolo — see  Veronese. 

Calderon,  152 

Calhoun,  John  C,  348 

Caligula,  47 

Calvin,  John,  128,  148,  164 

Camden,  William,  112,  127 

Camden's  Britannia,  88 

Campbell,  Thomas,  174 

Campbell  papers,  227 

Campbell,  William  J.,  84 

Camuccini,  176 

Canfield,  John,  313 

Cannon,  Joseph  G.,  352 

Cannon,  William,  355 

Canova,  176 

Capello,  Bianca,  147,  204 

Caracchi,  Ludovico,  112, 136 

Carignan,  Thomas  Franjois  de  Savoie, 
Prince  de,  112 

Carlisle,  John  G.,  352 

Carmichael,  William,  313 

Carrington,  Edward,  313 

Czrroll,  Charles,  76,  303,  309,  313,  337, 
359 

Carroll,  Charles  (Barrister),  313 

Carroll,  Daniel,  M.  C,  246,  299,  313, 
330,  337,  361 

Carroll,  Daniel,  of  Duddington,  246; 
autograph  mistaken  for  the  Congress- 
man's, 246,  247.     [Portrait  also.] 

Carruthers,  Robert  L.,  356 

Carvalho's  Forty  Centuries  of  Ink,  261 

Cary,  Richard,  344 

Cass,  Lewis,  348 

Castellane,  Comtesse  de,  87 

Castiglione,  Baldassare,  163 

Caswell,  Richard,  297,  313,  337 

Catalogue,  etc.,  Henry  Huth,  288 


Catalogue,  etc.,  Alfred  Morrison,  288 

Catesby,  Robert,  98,  128,  163 

Catharine  of  Arragon,  72,  98,  151,  156 

Catherine  of  Russia,  127,  151 

Cato,  47 

Cauhncourt — see  Vicenza. 

Cecil,  Robert — see  Salisbury. 

Cecil,  William — see  Burghley. 

Cellini,  Benvenuto,  168 

Centennial  Book  oj  the  Signers,  287 

Centlivre,  Mrs.,  124 

Cervantes,  47,  134,  163 

Chalabre,  Marquis  de,  87 

Chalmers  Collection,  221 

Chamberlain,  Levi,  353 

Chamberlain,  Mellen,  170 

Chambers,  John,  291 

Chambry,  Etienne  Pierre  Louis,  87,  137, 

280;  Collection,  43,  137-142,  143 
Champlin,  George,  313;  autograph  very 

rare,  263 
Champlin  papers,  227 
Chandler,  Charles  Church,  313 
Chandler,  John,  Sr.  and  Jr.,  mistaken  for 

each  other,  249,  291 
Chandler,  Theophilus  P.,  354 
Channing-Ellery  Papers,  227 
Chantry,  176 

Chapelain,  Jean,  98,  112,  126,  174 
Charavay  family,  79,  232 
Charavay,  Etienne,  41,  43,  44,  80,  85, 
89, 131, 138, 143,  259,  262,  280,  287, 
288 

His  La  Science  des  Autographes,  41,  85 
Charavay,  Eugene,  80 
Charavay,  Gabriel,  80 
Charavay,  Jacques,  79,  80 
Charavay,  Madame,  80 
Charavay,  Noel,  44,  80 
Charles  I,  of  England,  ?J,  55,  71,  98,  101, 
127, 128, /dJ,  177. 

His  letter  to  Ormond,  234-237 

Variations  in  his  autograph,  254 
Charles  II,  of  England,  18,  55,  98,  105, 

120,  123,  128,  129,  163,  164,  204 
Charles  II,  Duke  of  I^rraine,  113 
Charles  V,  Emperor,  24,  70,  11,  98,  103, 

115,  129,  141,  143,  157,  162,  163,  167, 

169,  177,  209 
Charles  V,  of  Germany,  45,  113, 133, 168 
Charles  V,  of  France,  112,  126 
Charles  VI,  of  France,  70, 1 13, 143 


370 


INDEX 


Charles  VII,  of  France,  98, 113, 122, 138, 

143 
Charles  VIII,  of  France,  113,  138, 139 
Charles  IX,  of  France,  96,  101, 106, 113, 

118,  127, /JP 
Charles  X,  of  France,  112,  126 
Charles,  Constable  of  France,  126 
Charles,  Due  de  Bourgogne,  113 
Charlemagne,  47 
Chase,  Jeremiah  T.,  313 
Chase,  Salmon  P.,  357;  papers,  213 
Chase,  Samuel,  77,  202,  297,  309,  313 
Chasles,  Michel,  87;  dupe  of  Vrain  Lucas, 

44-50 
Chastillon,  Gaspard  de,  114 
Chatterton,  Thomas,  204,  271 

Handwriting  always   the  same,  253; 
extremely  rare,  273. 
Chauny,  A.,  116 

Chenier,  Andr6  Marie  de,  72,  134,  139, 
145, 152 

Migration  of  one  of  his  letters,  231 
Chester,  George  D. — see    Austin     {Ben 

IV.). 
Chester,  John  ,313 
Chesterfield,  178 
Cheves,  Langdon,  351 
Childs,  George  VV.,  216 
Chittenden,  Lucius  E.,  353 
Choate,  John,  289 

Choate,  Rufus,  difficult  handwriting,  255 
Christian  II,  of  Denmark,  147 
Christian  III,  of  Denmark,  113 
Christie,  Gen.  Gabriel,  199 
Christina,  Queen,  46,  98 
Christophe,  177 
Churchill,  John,  124 
Cibber,  CoUey,  94,  207 
Cibber,  Mrs.  Susan,  128 
Cicero,  15,  16,  47 
Cimarosa,  Domenico,  136 
Cist,  Lewis  J.,  170,  186-190,  190,  191, 

247,  267;  Sale,  74,  75,  270 
Clairon,  Hippolite  Claire,  99 
Clarendon,  Edward,  Earl  of,   124,  129 

see  Hyde  {Henry). 
Clark,  Abraham,  77,  309,  313,  333,  336 
Clark,  Champ,  352 
Clark,  Gen.  Thomas,  339 
Clarkson,  Matthew,  313;  confused  with 

Major  Matthew,  248 
Claude,  wife  of  Francis  I,  114,  139 


Claverhouse,  55 

Clay,  Henry,  351 ;  Papers,  213 

Clay,  James  B.,  357 

Clay,  Joseph,  314 

Clays,  Pierre  Jean — facsimile,  39 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.,  75 

Clement  VII,  Pope,  101,  114 

Clement  VIII,  Pope,  99,  129,  147 

Clement  IX,  Pope,  114 

Cleopatra,  47;  Spurious  letter,  48 

Clermont,  Madame  de,  118 

Cleveland,  Barbara,  Duchess  of,  123, 129 

Cleveland,  Chauncey  F.,  354 

Cleveland,  Grover,  347 

Clingan,  William,  314,  330;  Doubts  of 

his  existence,  267 
Clinton,  Gen.  George,  289,  314,  339, 

347;  Papers,  213,  223,  224 
Clinton,  Gen.  James,  339;  Papers,  213 
Clvmer,  George,  77, 301,  303,  309,  314, 

333,  336,  361 
Coalter,  John  D.,  357 
Cobb,  David,  344 
Cobb,  Howell,  352 
Coburn,  Stephen,  353 
Cockburn,  Alexander,  212 
Cocke,  William,  314 
Cohen,  Joshua  J.,  171,  196-197 
Cohn,  Albert,  82 
Cohn,  Alexander  Meyer,  150 
Cohn  Sale,  73,  74,  150-153,  231 
Coke,  Sir  Edward,  123 
Colbert,  112 
Colden  papers,  219 
Cole,  Robert,88 
Coleman,  the  Elder,  71 
Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  94,  95 
Coles,  Isaac,  362 
Colfax,  Schuyler,  349,  352 
Coligny,  114,  7JP 
Collectingof  Autographs,  13 
Collection  of  one  hundred  characteristic, 

etc.,  autograph  letters,  284 
Collections,  European,  85 
Collections,  formation  of,  26 
Collector,  The,  83 
Collectors  and  Collections  in  the  United 

States,  170-207 
Collectors,  disreputable,  28-39 
Collectors,  European,  85-169 


INDEX 


371 


Collectors,  Collections  and  Sales,  see 
Addington,  Samuel 
Allen,  Mrs.  E.  H. 
American  Antiquarian  Society 
Anderdon,  John  L. 
Baker 

Baluze,  Etienne 
Bartelet,  Mr. 
Berlin  Library 
Bethune,  Hippolyte  de 
Bethune,  Phillipe  de 
Biblioth^que  Nationale 
Bindley,  James 
Bixby,  W.  H. 
Bolton,  Rev.  Robert 
Bovet,  Alfred 
Brande,  Gustavus 
Brienne,  Antoine  Lominie  de 
British  Museum 
Castellane,  Comtesse  de 
Chalabre,  Marquis  de 
Chamberlain,  Mellon 
Chambry,  Etienne  Pierre  Louis 
Chasles,  Michel 
Childs,  George  W. 
Cicero 

Cist,  Lewis  J. 
Cohen,  Joshua  J. 
Cohn,  Alexander  Meyer 
Cole,  Robert 
Conches,  Feuillet  de 
Congressional  Library 
Connecticut  Historical  Society 
Corser 

Cotton,  Sir  Robert 
Cousin,  Victor 
Danforth,  Elliot 
Daniel 

Davis,  Robert  C. 
Dillon,  John 
Dolomieu,  Marquise  de 
Donnadieu,  A. 
Dreer,  Ferdinand  J. 
Drexel  Institute 
Dubrunfaut 
DuChesne,  Andr6 
Dumas,  Alexandre 
Egerton  MSS. 
Emmet,  Dr.  Thomas  Addis 
Etting,  Frank  M. 
European,  85-169 
Fillon,  Benjamin 


Collectors,  Collections  and  Sales,  see 
Fogg,  John  S.  H. 
Gaigni^res,  Roger  de 
Geibel,  Dr.  Carl 
Gibbes,  R.  VV. 
Gilmor,  Robert 
Grimke,  Thomas  S. 
Guizot 

Hale,  John  Mills 
Harleian  MSS. 
Harley,  Robert 
Hauterive,  Comte  d' 
Haverford  College 
Herz  v.  Hertenried,  Carl 
Heath,  Baron 
Hibbert 
Hodges 
Huth,  Henry 
Ives 

Joline,  Adrien  H. 
Jones,  Charles  C. 
La  Caille. 
Leffingwell,  E.  H. 
Libanius  the  Sophist 
Maine  Historical  Society 
Martin,  Alexandre 
Mayer,  Brantz 
Mickley,  Joseph  J. 
Missouri  Historical  Society 
Monmerqu6 
Montigny,  Lucas  de 
Morrison,  Alfred 
Mucianus 

Musgrave,  Sir  William 
Neve,  Peter  le 

New  Hampshire  Historical  Society 
New  York  Historical  Society 
New  York  Public  Library 
New  York  State  Library 
Oxford,  Earl  of 
Paar,  Count 
Parison 

Peiresc,  Fabri  de 

Pennsylvania,  Historical  Society  of 
Phillips,  Sir  Thomas 
Pix6r6court,  Guilbert  de 
Pliny 

Pompeius  Secundus 
Poore,  Ben  Perley 
Raffles,  Rev.  Dr. 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 
Roberts,  Charles 


372 


INDEX 


Collectors,  Collections  and  Sales,  see 

Sainte-Beuve 

Sardou,  Victorien 

Sensier,  Alfred 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans 

Sprague,  William  B. 

Swain,  Gov.  David  L. 

Tarbe 

Tefft,  Israel  K. 

Thacher,  John  Boyd 

Thatcher,  Benjamin  B. 

Thoresby,  Ralph 

Tr^mont,  Baron  de 

Turner,  Dawson 

Upcott,  William 

Virginia  Historical  Society 

West,  James 

Williams,  J.  B. 

Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society 

Young,  John 
Collins,  John,  314,  329 
Collins,  Wilkie,  274 
Colon,  Don  Diego,  163 
Colonial  Governors,  181,  187,  191,  198, 

203,  204,  217 
Colonial  paper  money  signatures,  264 
Colonna,  Vittoria,  114,  134, 150 
Columbus,  23,  163,  165,  179 
Commerce  in  Autographs — see  Dealers. 
Commissioners  to  the  Six  Nations,  289- 

290 
Commynes,  Phillipe  de,  139 
Conarroe  collection,  226 
Conches,  Feuillet  de,  87 
Condict,  Silas,  314 
Congress,  First,  under  the  Constitution, 

244,  359-362 
Congress,  Library  of,  collection,  212-213 
Congress,  Peace — see  Peace. 
Congreve,  William,  7/,  93,  94,  124,  129, 

189 
Connecticut  Historical   Society   Collec- 
tion, 214-215 
Connecticut  MSS.,  214 
Constitution,  Signers  of  the,  335-338, 

265 
Constitutional  Convention,  191 
Contee,  Benjamin,  314,  361 
Continental  Congress  of  1774,  295-297 
Continental  Congress,  25,  191,  195,  196, 

197,  198,  201,  204,  211,  212,  217,  220, 

222,  227,  229,  243,  246,  261,  262,  263, 


311;  Presidents  of  the,  298 
Continental  Navy  Board,  305 
Convention  with  Indians  at  Albany,  289- 

290 
Conversations  on   Autographs   between 
Mr.  Old  and  Mr.  Young,  240-282 

First,  on  advisability  of  collecting,  240- 
245 

Second,  on   Right   names   but  wrong 
men,  245-250 

Third,    on    handwriting    at    different 
periods  of  a  man's  life,  250-255 

Fourth,  on  Forgeries,  256-261 

Fifth,   Rarity   and  Scarcity  of  auto- 
graphs, 261-270 

Sixth,  American  Poets,  270-275 

Seventh,  Arrangement  of  a  collection, 
275-282 
Conwav,  Martin  F.,  358 
Conway,  Gen.  Thomas,  190,  211,  339; 

autograph  rare,  266 
Cook,  Burton  C,  358 
Cook,  Capt.  James,  123,  127, 144, 163 
Cooke,  George  Fred,  129 
Cooke,  Joseph  P.,  314 
Cooke,  Philip  Pendleton,  270;  autograph 

extremely  rare,  272 
Cooper,  J.  Fenimore,  183 
Cooper,  John,  314;  autograph  rare,  264 
Cope,  Sir  Walter,  158 
Corday,  Charlotte,  146 
Corneille,  Pierre,  22,  137,  142,  145,  163, 

209 
Corneille,  Thomas,  139 
Cornell,  Ezekiel,  304,  314 
Cornhill  Magazine,  259 
Corning,  Erastus,  354 
Corser  sale,  155 
Cortez,  162 
Costa,  Emanuel  da,  91 
Cotton,  Sir  John,  210 
Cotton,  Sir  Robert,  86 
Coudray,  Philippe  du,  76 
Cousin,  Victor,  87 
Cowley,  Abraham,  94,  127 
Cowper,  William,  189,  221 
Coxe,  Tench,  314,  333 
Coypel,  Noel,  114 
Crabbe,  174 

Craik,  Dinah  Maria,  274 
Cranach,  Lucas,  136,  152 
Crane,  Gen.  John,  339 


INDEX 


373 


Crane,  Stephen,  296,  314 

Crawford,  William  H.,  347 

Crisfiekl,  John  W.,  356 

Crisp,  Charles  K.,  352 

Crittenden  (John  J.)  papers,  213 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  55,  99,  127,  128,  133, 

163,  217,  243 
Cromwell,  Richard,  99 
Crowninshield,  Francis  B.,  354 
Cruger,  John,  293 
Cullom,  Alvin,  356 
Cumberland,  175 
Cumming,  William,  314;  autograph  very 

rare,  263 
Cumnock  Express,  56 
Cunningham,  174 
Curtis,  Samuel  R.,  358 
Cushing,  Nathan,  314 
Cushing,  Thomas,  295,  314 
Custis,  John  Parke,  344 
Custis  papers,  217 
Cuvier,  176 

Dagobert  I,  209 

Dait,  Carlo,  221 

D'Alembert,  176 

Dallas,  George  M.,  348 

Dalton,  Tristram,  314,  359 

Dampiere,  Madame,  115 

Dana,  Francis,  301,  303,  314,  329,  332, 

335 
Dane,  Nathan,  314 
Danforth,  Elliot,  33-35,  197-200,  268; 

Sale,  75;  Prices  of  the  Signers  at  the 

sale,  77-78 
Danforth,  Thomas,  192 
Daniel  Sale,  155 
Daniell,  Walter  V.,  82 
Danielson,  Timothy,  314 
Danneker,  Johann  Heinrich  von,  152 
Dante,  47 
Danton,  166 
D'Arblay,  Madam,  175 
Darnley,  Lord,  104 
Darwin,  175 
Dati,  Carlo,  73,  221 
Davenant,  Sir  William,  94,  129 
Davenport,  Rev.  John,  192 
Davey,  Samuel — Guide  to  the  Collector 

of  Historical  Documents,  7 
Davidson,  Lucretia  M.,  270, 271, 272, 273 


Davidson,  Margaret  M.,  270,  271,272, 

273 
Davie,  William  R.,  338 
Davis,  David,  349 
Davis,  George,  356 
Davis,  John  W.,  352 
Davis,  Robert,  C.  170,  179,  180 
Davy,  Sir  Humphrey,  176 
Dawson,  John,  314 
Dayrolles,  J.,  91 
Dayrolles,  S.,  91 
Dayton,  Elias,  314,  339 
Dayton,  Jonathan,  314,  336,  351 
Dealers  in  autographs,  79 

American,  82-84 

English,  81 

French,  79,  80 

German,  82 
Dealers,  Individual,  see 

Barker,  FVederick,  81 

Benjamin,  William  Evarts,  83 

Benjamin,  Walter  R.,  83 

Boerner,  C.  G.,  82 

Brown,  Andrew,  55 

Burns,  Charles  De  F.,  82,  83 

Campbell,  William  J.,  84 

Charavay  family,  79,  232 

Charavay,  Etienne,  80 
Eugene,  80 
Gabriel,  80 
Jacques,  79,  80 
"  Madame,  80 

Noel,  80 

Cohn,  Albert,  82 

Daniell,  Walter  V.,  82 

Evans,  Mr.,  73 

Goodspeed,  Charles  E.,  83 

Haas,  Otto,  82 

Heise,  John,  83 

Henrici,  Karl  Ernst,  82 

Hirsch,  Emil,  82 

Liepmannssohn,  Leo,  82 

Madigan,  P.  F.,  83 

Madigan,  Thomas,  83 

Maggs  Bros.,  82 

Moxon,  Edward,  54 

Murray,  John,  53,  54 

Naylor,  Frederick,  81 

Pearson,  J.,  &  Co.,  82 

Pickering,  William,  73 

Quaritch,  Bernard,  72,  73,  82,  221 

Rosenbach,  A.  S.  W.,  84 


374 


INDEX 


Dealers,  Individual,  see 

Sabin,  Joseph,  83 

Schulz,  Otto  August,  82 
"       Richard  Zeune,  82 

Stargardt,  J.  A.,  82 

Stillie,  James,  55,  56,  67 

Waller, ,  80 

"       John,  80 

Wheeler,  F.,  82 

White,  -y— ,  54 

Zeune,  Richard,  82 
Deane,  Silas,  296,  314;  papers,  214 
De  Borre,  Chevalier  De  Preudhomme, 

339;  autograph  very  rare,  266 
Declaration  of  Independence — ^see  Sign- 
ers. 
Defoe,  Daniel,  124, 156, 164, 168,  204 
DeHaas,  John  Philip,  340;  autograph 

rare,  266 
De  Hart,  John,  296,  314 
Delambre,  176 
Delancey,  James,  291 
Delassus,  Charles  Dehault,  papers,  218 
Denney,  William, 
Denning,  William,  302 
Denon,  176 
Dent,  George,  351 
Dent,  John  F.,  356 
Department — see    Admiralty,    Finance, 

Marine,  Navy,  Post  Office,  State,  War, 

War  and  Ordinance. 
Descartes,  Ren6,  46,  114,  123 
Deshon,  John,  305 
Deshoulieres,    Antoinette    Ligier  de  la 

Garde,  140 
Desmarets,  M.,  120 
Desmoulins,  Camille,  70, 144, 151 
De  Stael,  Madame,  176 
Devereux,  Robert — see  Essex. 
De  Witt,  Charles,  314 
Diana  of  France,  99,  126 
DianaofPoictiers,99, 114, 126, 127, 138, 

164 
Diaz,  Narcisse,  131 
Dibdin,  Charles,  174 
Dick,  Samuel,  315 
Dickens,  Charles,  30,  31,  53,  184,  274 

Mutual  Friend  MS.,  216 
Dickinson,  John,  294,  296,  315,  330, 

333,  336 
Dickinson,  Philemon,  315,  359 
Diderot,  176 


Dillenius,  175 

Dillon,  John,  88,  128 

Dillon  sale,  71,  73,  128-129,  130,  156 

Disreputable  collectors,  28-38 

D'Istria,  Capo,  177 

Dodd,  Dr.,  178 

Dodge,  William  E.,  355 

Dodsley,  178 

Dolomieu,  Marquise  de,  87 

Donadieu,  Abb€,  119 

Doniphan,  Alexander  W.,  357 

Donnadieu,  A.,  71,  72, 73, 74,  88, 95, 95- 
109,  121,  231,  281 

Doolittle,  James  R.,  358 

Doria,  Andrea,  148 

Dow,  Moses,  315 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  129 

Drake,  J.  Rodman — autograph  ex- 
tremely rare,  273;  change  in  his  hand- 
writing, 252 

Draper,  Lyman  C,  MS.  collection,  228, 
279-280 

Drayton,  William  Henry,  315,  331 

Dreer,  Ferdinand  J.,  171,  180;  collec- 
tion, 226,  279 

Drexel  Institute  Collection,  215-216 

Dryden,  John,  124,  127, 156, 168,  204 

Duane,  James,  296,  302,  315,  330,  333; 
papers,  220 

Dubrunfaut,  87,  143,  280 

DuChesne,  Andr6,  86 

DuCoudray,  Philippe,  340;  autograph 
extremely  rare,  265 

Dudley,  Robert,  97;  see  Leicester. 

Dudley,  Thomas,  192 

Duer,  William,  303,  315,  330;  papers, 
219 

DufBeld,  Samuel,  315 

Dumas,  Alexandre,  30,  87 

Duncan,  Alexander,  354 

Dunlop,  Miss,  165 

Dunois,  Jean,  Comte  de  Longueville  ct 
de,  114,  126,/^^ 

Dunster,  Henry,  192 

Duplessis,  Armand  Jean,  see  Richelieu. 

Duportail,  Gen.  Louis  Lebegue,  340 

Dupuy,  M.,  121,  166 

Duquesne,  Abraham,  146 

D'Urfey,  Thomas,  94 

Durer,  Albrecht,  149 

Durkee,  Charles,  358 

Duvall,  Gabriel,  337 


INDEX 


375 


Duyckinck,  Evart  A.  and  George  L., 
papers,  221;  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Literature,  270 

Dyer,  Eliphalet,  293,  295,  301,  315 

Eck,  Johann  Maier,  153 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  175 

Edmund,  brother  of  Edward  IV,  156 

Edmunds,  George  P.,  349 

Edward   IV,  of  England,  99,  108,  156, 

164,  168 
Edward  VI,  of  England,  99, 151, 168 
Edwards,  Pierpont,  315 
Edwards,  Timothy,  315 
Egerton,  Lord,  210 
Egerton  MSS.,  20 
Elbert,  Gen,  Samuel,  315,  340 
YX\ot,]o\vx\,  183, 192,200 
Elizabethof  France,  sister  of  Louis  XIII, 

100 
Elizabeth  of  France,  sister  of  Louis  XVI, 

100,  126 
Elizabeth,  Madame,  44 
Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia,  100,  XTI 
Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  20,  24,  71, 

72,  73,  97, 100,  106,  1 15,  1 17,  127, 133, 

156,  164,  169,  111,  189,  207,  111,  226, 

243;  variations  in  her  autograph,  254 
Ellery,  William,  77,  306,  308,  315,  329 
Ellis,  E.  W.  H.,  357 
Ellsworth,  Oliver,  302,  315,  336,  359; 

papers,  215 
Elmer,  Jonathan,  301,  315,  359;  con- 

fused  with  Rev.  Jonathan,  248 
Elzevier,  Abraham,  115 
Emery,  J.,  94 
Emmet,  Dr.  Thomas  Addis,  170,   180, 

268;  collection  in  New  York  Public 

Library,  180 
Endicott,  John,  192 
English  collectors,  86,  87,  88 
English  court  hand,  288 
English  dealers,  81 
Erasmus,  Desiderius,  129,  135,  146, 148, 

154,  164 
Ericsson,  212 
Espartero,  30 
Essex,  Earl  of,  100,  127 
Estrades,  Godefroi,  Comte  d',  100 
Estrees,  Gabrielle  d',  115 
Estrees,  Jeanne  d',  115 


Etting,  Frank  M.,  170,  179 

Etting  Collection,  179,  226 

Ettrick  Shepherd,  see  Hogg  {James). 

Euripides,  15,  47 

European  noted  collections,  85-169 

European  Public  Collections,  208-210 

Evans,  auctioneers,  92 

Evans,  Mr.,  73 

Evans,  John,  315;  autograph  rare,  264 

Eveleigh,  Nicholas,  315 

Evelyn,  John,  93,  100,  162 

Ewing,  Thomas,  357 

Ewing,  Thomas,  Jr.,  358 

Eylau,  Battle  of,  14 

Fabert,  Abraham,  140 

Facsimiles,  etc.,  in  British  Museum,  288 

Facsimiles  sold  as  originals,  67;  detection 
of,  68;  books  of,  283-288 

Fairbanks,  Charles  W.,  350 

Fairfax,  Miss,  167 

Falconer,  Capt.  Nathaniel,  306 

Falconer,  William,  94 

Falstaff,  Sir  John,  169 

Farnese,  Alexander,  126 

Febiger,  Gen.  Christian,  340 

Federal  Administration,  First,  220 

Federal  Congress,  First,  198 

Federal  Convention,  autographs,  187, 
220, 226, 229, 264, 265;  Members,  335- 
338 

Fell,  John,  315 

Felton,  assassin,  123 

Fenelon,  Francois  de  la  Mothe  Salignac, 
140,  209 

Ferdinand,  King  of  Spain,  144,  217 

Fermoy,  Chevalier  de  Roche,  340;  auto- 
graph extremely  rare,  265 

Ferry,  Thomas  W^,  349 

Fessenden,  William  P.,  353 

Festel,  M.  du,  109 

Few,  William,  315,  338,  360 

Field,  David  Dudley,  354 

Field,  Eugene,  274 

Fielding,  Henry,  124,  127,  129 

Fillmore,  Millard,  346,  348 

Fillon,  Benjamin,  87,  131-137,  262,  280 

Fillon  Sale,  71,  74,  131,  143,  231;  cata- 
logue, 131,287 

Finance,  Revolutinary  Department  of, 
301-302 

First  Congress — see  Constitution. 


376 


INDEX 


Fisher,  Hendrick,  293 

Fitch,  John,  papers,  213 

Fitch,  Governor,  papers,  214 

Fitzburgh,  Peregrine,  344 

Fitzgerald,  John,  344 

Fitzhugh,  Peregrine, 

Fitzhugh,  William,  315;  confused  with 
another  William,  247 

Fitzsimons,  Thomas,  315,  333,  336,  361 

Fleming,  William,  315;  confused  with 
Col.  William,  248 

Florence,  Prince  of,  116 

Flovd,  William,  77,  296,  302,  306,  308, 
315,  361 

Fogg,  Dr.  John  S.  H.,  170,  181,  217,  279 

Folsom,  Nathaniel,  295,  301,  315 

Fontaine,  Jean  de  la,  127 

Foote,  Samuel,  95 

Forbes,  James,  306,  315;  autograph 
extremely  rare,  263 

Forbes,  John  M.,  354 

Ford,  Gordon  L.,  papers,  222 

Foreign  Affairs,  Secretaries,  300 

Forgers  of  autographs,  40-68;  Vrain  Lu- 
cas, 42-51;  "George  Gordon  Byron," 
53-54;  Alexander  Hamilton  Smith, 
54-60;  Baron  von  Gerstenbergh,  61- 
63;  James  W.  Turner,  64-65;  Robert 
Spring,  65-67;  Conversation  on,  256- 
261 

Form  an,  Ezekiel,  302 

Forrest,  Uriah,  315 

Foster  papers,  227 

Foster,  Abiel,  316,  360 

Foster,  Lafayette  S.,  349 

Foster,  Stephen  C,  353 

Foster,  Theodore,  359 

Fowler,  Asa,:353 

Fox,  George,  94,  123,  129 

Fox,  Lieut.  Gen.,  106 

France,  collecting  in,  17 

Francis  I,  of  France,  24,  7/,  lOI,  103, 
114,  115,  118,  127,  129,  133,  139, 140, 
143,  164,  168,  169. 

Francis  II,  of  France,  101,  115,  127, 140 

Frank,  Sebastian,  149 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  66,  77,  81,  93,  199, 
in,  lis,  116,  292,  307,  309,  316,  336 

Franklin,  Thomas  F,.,  355 

Frederic  II,  of  Prussia,  101,  115 

Frederic,  King  of  Bohemia,  101 

Frederic  V,  King  of  Bohemia,  151 


Frederic  William,  of  Brandenburg,  151 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick,  301,  316 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick  T.,  355 

French,  Ezra  B.,  353 

French  Academy  of  Sciences,  45 

French  and  Indian  War,  211 

French  collectors,  86,  87 

French  dealers,  79-80 

French  Revolution  autographs,  125,  203 

Fries,  Comte  de,  231,  281 

Frontenac,  204 

Frost,  George,  316 

Frye,  Gen.  Joseph,  340 

Frye,  William  P.,  350 

Furno,  Nicolas  de,  1 16 

Fuseli,  176 

Gadsden,  Christopher,  64, 183,  294,  297, 
316,  340 

Gage,  Gen.  Thomas,  199 

Gaignidres,  Roger  de,  86 

Gaillard,  John,  348 

Gainsborough,  Thomas,  94,  123,  205 

Gale,  George,  361 

Galignani,  68 

Galileo  Galilei,  73, 115, 132, 144, 156, 164 

Galland,  Antoine,  115 

Gallatin,  Albert,  papers,  213,  220 

Galloway,  Joseph,  296,  316 

Gandini,  Marc  Antonio,  109 

Gansevoort,  Leonard,  316,  333 

Garcia  de  Paredes,  Don  Diego,  144 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  115 

Gardiner,  Addison,  355 

Gardiner,  Silvester,  316;  papers,  217 

Gardner,  John,  316;  autograph  ex- 
tremely rare,  263 

Gardner,  John,  Sr.,  mistaken  for  his  son, 
263 

Gardner,  Joseph,  316 

Gardner,  Sylvester,  316;  Papers,  217 

Garfield,  James  A.,  347 

Garique,  119 

Garrick,  David,  89,  94,  128,  129,  169, 
169,  179,  188,  192,  207 

Garth,  S.,  94 

Gates,  Horatio,  211,  304,  340;  papers, 
219 

Gay,  John,  94,  124,  129 

Geibel,  Dr.  Carl,  collection,  153-154 

Gelston,  David,  316 


INDEX 


377 


Generals  of  the  Revolution,  74,  76,  181, 

187,  191,  195,  197,  198,  206,  211,  217, 

220,  222,  227,  229,  265,  339-343 
Generals  of  the  Civil  War,  191,  198,  245 
Generals  of  the  Confederacy,  195 
George  III,  of  England,  103 
Gerard,  176 

Gerard,  Marc  Antoinc — see  Saint  Amant. 
German  dealers,  82 
German  auxiliaries,  222 
Germany,  collecting  in,  17 
Germius,  Julius,  47 
Gerry,  Elbridge,  77,  308,  316,  329,  332, 

335,  348,  360 
Gerstenbergh,  Baron  von,  61-63 
Gervais,  John  Louis,  302,  316 
Gibbes,  R.  W.,  170 
Gibbon,  Edv/ard,  7/,  93,  124,  179 
Gibbons,  William,  316;  father  and  son 

often  confused,  248 
Gibson,  Gen.  John,  302,  340 
Gifford,  175 
Gifford,  Lady,  167 
Giles,  Edward,  316;  autograph  very  rare, 

263 
Giles,  William  B.,  362 
Gillies,  175 

Gillon,  Alexander,  316 
Gilman,  John  Taylor,  316 
Gilman,  Nicholas,  316,  335,  360 
Gilmor,  Robert,  170,  171,  172,  173,  178; 

collection,  171-179 
Gist,  Mordecai,  184,  340 
Giulio  Romano,  135,  149 
Glover,  Gen.  John,  340 
Gluck,  Christoph  Willibald,  73, 136, 140, 

153,  204 
Godwin,  William,  175;  MS.  oiCloudesley, 

216 
Goethe,  Johann  W.  von,  151,  176 
Goldoni,  174 

Goldsborough,  Robert,  297,  316 
Goldsborough,  Robert,  Jr.,  Judge  of  the 

Supreme    Court,    confused    with    the 

Congressman,  247 
Goldsborough,  William  T.,  356 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  94,  127,  129, 156, 169, 

lie,  204,  207,  221 
Gontaut — see  Biron. 
Goodhue,  Benjamin,  360 
Goodrich,  John  Z.,  354 
Goodspeed,  Charles  E.,  83 


Gorham,  Nathaniel,  299,  316,  335 

Governors — see  Colonial. 

Gracchi,  The,  16 

Graham,  James — see  Montrose. 

Graham,  Mrs.,  175 

Gramont,  Philibert,  Comte  de,  101 

Grancey,  M.  de,  113 

Granger,  Francis,  354 

Grant,  U.  S.,  199,  347 

Grantham,  Isaac,  316 

Grattan,  Henry,  58 

Gray,  Thomas,  204 

Gravson,  William,  299,  304,  316,  344, 

360 
Greaton,  Gen.  John,  340 
Greeley,   Horace,   handwriting  hard   to 

read,  255 
Greene,  Gen.  Nathaniel,  199,  201,  211, 

340;  autograph  rech6rche,  266;  papers, 

214,  227 
Gregory  XIII,  Pope,  133 
Greuze,  Jean  Baptiste,  146 
Griffin,  Cyrus,  299,  316 
Griffin,  Samuel,  362 
Grillparzer,  Franz,  152 
Grimaldi,  Joseph,  94 
Grimes,  James  W.,  358 
Grimke,  Thomas  S.,  170 
Griswold,  Almon  W.,  183 
Groesbeck,  William  S.,  357 
Gronovius,  175 
Grotius,  179 
Grout,  Jonathan,  360 
Grow,  Galusha  A.,  352 
Gruachv,  M.  de,  113 
Grouchy,  Marshall,  207 
Guericke,  Otto  von — facsimile  from  his 

Album  Amicorum,  19 
Guesclin,  Bertrand  du,  209 
Guicciardini,  Francisco,  116 
Guise,  Due  de,  22,  104 
Guise,  Franfois  de  Lorraine,  Due  de,  116 
Guise,  Henri  de  Lorraine,  Due  de,  116 
Guise,  Henri  II  de  Lorraine,  Due  de,  116 
Guise,  Louis  de,  Cardinal — see  Lorraine. 
Guizot,  87 
Gunby,  John,  340 
Gunn,  James,  316,  360 
Guthrie,  James,  357 
Guyon,   Jeanne    Marie    Bouvier   de    la 

Motte,  140 
Guyse,  Comte  de,  1 13 


378 


INDEX 


Gwinnett,  Button,  22, 23, 75, 77, 91, 191, 

194, 196, 198,  lis,  256,  310,  316 
Gwynn,  Eleanor,  164 

Haas,  Otto,  82 

Habersham,  John,  316 

Habersham,  Joseph,  317 

Hackleman,  Pleasant  A.,  357 

Hale,  John  Mills,  200-202 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  127 

Hale,  Nathan,  75,  76,  193,  201,  204; 

papers,  214 
Hall,  Hiland,  353 
Hall,  John,  317 

Hall,  Lyman,  77, 194,  310,  317 
Hallam,  Henry,  175 
Halleck,  Fitz  Greene,  274 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  175, 212, 215,  317, 

333,  336,  344 
Hamilton,  Lady,  160 
Hamlin,  Hannibal,  349 
Hammond,  James  H.,  212 
Hancock,  John,  77, 194,  298,  299,  317, 

329 
Hand,  Edward,  317,  340 
Handbook  oj  Autographs,  286 
Handel,  George  Fricdrich,  136,  204 
Hanson,  Alexander  Contee,  344 
Hanson,  John,  298,  307,  317,  330 
Hardouin,  Jules — see  Mansart. 
Hardwicke  Collection,  221 
Hardy,  Samuel,  317 
Haring,  John,  2%,  317 
Harlan,  James,  358 
Harleian  MSS.,  88 
Harley,  Robert,  86,  210 
Harnett,  Cornelius,  301,  317,  330 
Harris,  B.  D.,  353 
Harris  papers,  227 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  77,  297,  303,  309, 

317 
Harrison,  Benjamin  (President),  347 
Harrison,  Col.  Robert  H.,  184, 193,  303, 

337,  344;  autograph  rare,  265 
Harrison,  William,  317;  another  William 

confused  with  him,  247 
Harrison,  William  Henry,  187,  346 
Hart,  John,  309,  317 
Harte,  Bret,  75,  174 
Hartley,  Thomas,  317,  361 
Harvey,  William,  218 
Harvie,  John,  317,  330 


Hathorn,  John,  317,  361 

Hatton,  Christopher,  123 

Hauterive,  Comte  d',  87 

Hauy,  176 

Haverford  College,  Roberts  collection, 

179 
Hawkins,  Benjamin,  317,  360 
Hawkins,  Isaac  R.,  356 
Hawkins,  Sir  John,  133, 164 
Hawkins,  Philemon,  334 
Hawley,  Joseph — collection,  222 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  75 
Haydn,  Joseph,  189,  204 
Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  347 
Hazard,  Ebenezer,  307 
Hazard,  Jonathan  J.,  317 
Hazen,  Gen.  Moses,  340 
Hazlitt,  William — "Four  Generations  of 

a  Literary  Family,"  130,  155 
Hearne,  175 
Heath,  Baron,  88 

Heath,  Gen.  William,  211,  304,  340 
Heine,  30 
Heise,  John,  83 
Hemans,  174 
Hemsley,  William,  317 
Henderson,  David  B.,  352 
Henderson,  John,  129 
Henderson,  Thomas,  317 
Hendricks,  Thomas  A.,  349 
Henkels,  Stan.  V., 
Henrici,  Karl  Ernst,  82 
Henrietta  Maria,  101 
Henry  II,  of  France,  99,  103,  104,  112, 

113,  114,  116,  164 
Henry  III,  of  France,  24,  70, 115, 125, 165 
Henry  IV,  of  France,  14,  21,  24,  73,  89, 

96,  99,  101,  102,  109,  115,  116,  118, 

125,  127,  129,  156,  164,  169 
Henry  V,  of  England,  18, 101 
Henry  VI,  of  England, /Oi- 
Henry  VII,  of  England,  164, 184 
Henry  VIII,  of  England,  24,  44,  72,  98, 

116,  129, 133,  151,  156,  157, 164,  W, 

202,  204 
Henry,  James,  302,  317;  two  of  same 

name  confused,  248 
Henry,  John,  317,  359 
Henry,  Patrick,  317,  337 
Henry,  Patrick,  Jr.,  297 
Henry  William,  317;  two  of  same  name 

confused,  248 


INDEX 


379 


Herkimer,  Nicholas,  200 

Herod,  47 

Hertz,  M.,  231,281 

Herz  von  Hertenried  Collection,  153-154 

Hewes,  Joseph,  77,  269,  297,  310,  317 

Hevward,  Thomas,  77 

Hevward,  Thomas,  Jr.,  194,  301,  310, 

317,  331 
Hibbard  papers,  219 
Hibbert  sale,  260 
Hickerson,  William  P.,  356 
Hiero,  47 

Hiester,  Daniel,  361 
Higginson,  Stephen,  318,  332 
Hill,  Aaron,  94 
"Hill,"  John,  56,  57 
Hill,  Whitmill,  307,  318 
Hillhouse,  James,  318 
Hillhouse,  William,  318 
Hindman,  William,  318 
Hirsch,  Emil,  82 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania — see 

Pennsylvania. 
Hitchcock,  Reuben,  357 
Hobart,  Garrett  A.,  350 
Hobby,  Sir  Thomas,  96 
Hobhouse,  Cam.,  174 
Hodges,  collection,  105,  108 
Hodgson,  Rev.  Francis,  168 
Hofer,  Andreas,  147 
Hogarth,  William,  95,  205,  207 
Hogg,  James,  60 
Hogun,  Gen.  James,  340;  autograph  very 

rare,  266 
Holcroft,  175 
Holden,  Thomas,  318 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  184,  274 
Holten,  Samuel,  299,  318,  329 
Hone  papers,  220 
Hooper,  Lucy,  270;   complete  Poetical 

Works,  272;  autograph  extremely  rare, 

272 
Hooper,  William,  77,  269,  297,  310,  318 
Hopkins,  George  W.,  352 
Hopkins,  Stephen,  292,  295,  308,  318 
Hopkinson,  Francis,  68,  77,  305,  309, 

318 
Hoppin,  William  W.,  354 
Hoppner,  J.,  95 
Hornblower,  Josiah,  318 
Horsmanden,  Daniel,  289 
Horton,  Valentine  B.,  357 


Hosmer,  Titus,  318,  329 

Hough,  Harrison,  357 

Houston,  John  W.,  355 

Houston,  William  Churchill,  302,  318, 

333,  336 
Houstoun,  John,  318 
Houston,  William,  318,  338;  autograph 

rare,  265 
Howard,  Benjamin  C,  356 
Howard,  John  Eager,  318 
Howard,   Martin,  Jr.,   292;   autograph 

rare,  265;  confused  with  Martin,  Sr., 

249 
Howard,  Thomas— see  Norfolk. 
Howe,  Gen.  Robert,  340 
Howell,  David,  318 
Howell,  James — Instructions  Jor  Forreine 

Travel,  17 
Howley,  Richard,  318 
Hubbard,  Henrv,  351 
Huet,  Abb6,  119 
Huet,  Bishop,  102 
Huet,  M.,  98 
Huger,  Daniel,  318,  362 
Huger,  Gen.  Isaac,  340 
Hull,  Thomas,  94 
Humboldt,  176 

Humphreys,  Charles,  296,   318;  auto- 
graph very  rare,  263,  264 
Humphreys,  David,  344 
Humpton,  Richard,  340 
Hunter,  R.  M.  T.,  352 
Huntingdon,  Samuel,  77,  185 
Huntington,  Benjamin,  307,  318,  360 
Huntington,  Gen.  Jedediah,  340 
Huntington,  Samuel,  185,  298,  308,  318, 

329 
Hutchinson,  Thomas,  289,  291 
Huth,  Frederick,  155 
Huth,  F.,  &  Son,  155 
Huth,  Henrv,  154-156;  sale,  23,  72, 13, 

154-158;  catalogue,  288 
Hutson,  Richard,  318,  331 
Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  145,  148 
Huygens,  Constantin,  107,  136,  164,  166 
Hyde,  Anne — see  York. 
Hyde,  Henrietta,  109 
Hyde,  Henry  (Clarendon),  91 

Iberville,  204 

Increase  in  value  of  autographs,  69 

Indians,  Convention  with,  289 


380 


INDEX 


Ingalls,  John  Jay,  350 

Ingersoll,  Jared,  318,  336 

Ink  used,  detection  of  forgeries,  260-261 

Inventaire  des  Autographes,  287 

Irvine,  William,  318,  340 

Irving,  Washington,  75,  184,  271 

Isabella,  Queen  of  Spain,  179,  217 

Isographie  des  Hommes  Celebres,  284 

Iturbide,  177 

Ives,  Mr.,  88 

Izard,  Ralph,  318,  360 

Jackson,  Andrew,  190,  116,  346 
Jackson,  Dr.  David,  319;  confused  with 

another  David,  248 
Jackson,  Gen.  Henry,  341 
Jackson,  James,  362 
Jackson,  Jonathan,  319 
Jackson,  Gen.  Michael,  341 
Jackson,  William,  344 
James  I,  of  England,  24,  55,  102,  116, 

123,  127 
James  II,  of  England,  109 
James  III,  of  England,  102 
James  VI,  of  Scotland,  72,  100 
James,  Amaziah  B.,  354 
Janin,  Jules,  30 
Jay,  John,  296,  298,  300,  319 
Jeanne  d'Arc,  114,  169 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  66,  77, 218,  299,  309, 

319,  346,  347;  papers,  227 
Jeffrey,  175 
Jehannot,  121 
Jenifer,  Daniel,  of  St.  Thomas,  302,  319, 

337 
Jenkinson,  Hilary,  288 
Jesus  Christ,  47 
Joan  of  Arc — see  'Jeanne. 
Johannes  Secundus,  128 
John  "Le  Bon,"  208 
John  II,  of  France,  208 
Johnson,  Andrew,  194,  347,  349 
Johnson,  Charles,  288 
Johnson,  Charles  (N.  C),  319 
Johnson,  Reverdy,  356 
Johnson,  Richard  M.,  348 
Johnson,  Samuel,  71,  93,  124,  175,  176, 

221 
Johnson,  Thomas,  319 
Johnson,  Thomas,  Jr.,  297 
Johnson,  Waldo  P.,  357 


Johnson,  Sir  William,  185,  291;  papers, 

213, 223, 224 
Johnson,   William    Samuel,   293,    295, 

319,  335,  359;  Papers,  214 
Johnston,  George,  344 
Johnston,  Samuel,  269,  298,  319,  360 
Joliet,  204 
Joline,    Adrien    H.,   205-207,   277-281; 

Meditations  of  an  Aiito'^aph  Collector, 

15,  205,  277-281;  Rambles  in  Auto- 

graph  Land,  205 
Jones,  Allen,  319 
Jones,  Charles  C,  195-196 
Jones,  Gabriel,  319 
Jones,  George  W.,  357 
Jones,  John  Paul,  75,  76,  184,  190,  192, 

201,  204,  212 
Jones,  John  W.,  352 
Jones,  Joseph,  301,  319 
Jones,  Noble  W.,  319 
Jones,  Samuel,  319 
Jones,  Dr.  Walter,  334 
Jones,  Sir  William,  175 
Jones,  Willie,  319,  338;  autograph  rare, 

265 
Jonson,  Ben,  124,  204 
Jordaens,  C,  123,  152,  164 
Jordaens,  Jakob,  136 
Jordan,  Dora,  188 
Jordan,  Dorothea,  94 
Josephine — see  Beauharnais. 
Julius  II.,  Pope,  116 
Judas,  47 

Kalb,  Baron  de,  76, 190, 193,  341;  auto- 
graph rare,  266 

Kant,  Immanuel,  152 

Katharine  of  Arragon — see  Catharine. 

Kauffmann,  Gerard — see  Mercator. 

Kean,  Edmund,  94,  176 

Kean,  John,  319 

Kearney,  Dyre,  319 

Keats,  John,  23,  53,  124,  157,  158,  169, 
189,  204,  218,  238-240;  migration  of 
his  letter  to  Fanny  Brawne,  238-239 

Keifer,  J.  Warren,  352 

Kemble,  John  P.,  94 

Kemble  family,  176 

Kennedy,  John  S.,  57,  180 

Kent,  James,  paper,  213 

Kepler,  John,  102,  149 

Kerr,  Michael  C,  352 


IXDEX 


3S1 


Kieft,  William,  203 

Killengworth,  Thomas,  108 

Kiiligrew,  Sir  W.,  124 

King,  John  A.,  355 

King,  Rufus,  319,  335,  359 

King,  Thomas,  94 

King,  William,  papers,  217 

King,  William  R.,  348 

King  papers,  220 

Kingsley,  Charles,  274 

Kinloch,  Francis,  319 

Kinsey,  James,  296,  319 

Kinsey,  John,  290 

Kleist,  Heinrich  von,  152 

Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  95,  127,  205 

Knox,  Gen.  Henry,  305,  341 

Knox,  John,  55,  164^  111;  papers,  217 

Knyphausen,  Baron,  192 

Korner,  Karl  Theodor,  188 

Kosciuszko,  Thaddeus,  201,  341 

Kotzebue,  176 

La  Bruyere,  47 

La  Caille,  M.,  87 

Lacordaire,  30 

Lacroix,  176 

La  Fayette,  Comtesse  de,  140 

La  Favette,  Marquis  de,  177,  184,  202, 

227,' 341 
La  Fontaine,  Jean  de,  43,  44,  90,  116, 

127,  134,  141,  145,  152,  169,  209 
Lagrange,  176 
Lalande,  176 
Lamarque,  176 
Lamb,  Charles,  73, 94, 102, 157, 175, 184, 

207;  IMS.  of  Essay  on  Witches,  216 
Lamb,  Gen.  John,  341;  papers,  219 
Lamb,  Mary,  207 
Lamballe,  Princess,  100,  104,    117,    119, 

129,  165 
Landon,  Letitia  E.,  174 
Langdon,  John,  319,  335,  359 
Langdon,  Woodbury,  319 
Langworthy,  Edward,  303,  319,  331 
Lannes,  Marshall,  70,  140 
Lannoye,  Madame  de,  115 
Lansdowne,  Marquis  of,  210 
Lansing,  John,  319,  336 
Laplace,  176 

La  Rochefoucauld — see  Rochefoucauld. 
La  Sablifire,  Marguerite  Hessin  de,  141 
La  Salle,  204 


Las  Casas,  Fray  Bartolome  de,  165 

Laso,  Garcias — see  Garcilasso. 

Lasso,  Orlando,  153 

Latimer,  Henry,  319 

La  Tremoille,  Louis  H,  Sire  de,  117 

Laumoy,  Gen.  de,  341 

Laurance,  John,  319,  344,  .361 

Laurens,   Henry,  298,   301,  320,  331, 

338 
Laurens,  John,  344 
Laussac,  M.  de.,  1 16 
La  Valliere,  Louise  de,  117,  122,141,146 
Laverdet,  Mr.,  1 10 
Law,  Jonathan,  papers,  214 
Law,  Richard,  296,  320 
Lawrence,  John, 
Lawrence,  Thomas,  290 
Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  176 
Lazarus,  47,  50;  spurious  letter  of,  49 
Learned,    Gen.    Ebenezer,    341;    auto- 
graph rare,  266 
Le  Brun,  Charles,  102 
Le  Brun,  Madame  Vigee,  176 
Le  Couvreur,  Adrienne,  90,  135,  141 
Lee  family  papers,  227,  228 
Lee,  Arthur,  302,  320 
Lee,  Gen.  Charles,  76,  193,  211,  341 
Lee   Francis   Lightfoot,  77,   303,    310, 

320,  330 
Lee,  Henrv,  320 
Lee,  Richard  Bland,  320,  362 
Lee,  Richard  Henrv,  78,  297,  299,  309, 

320,  330,  337,  360 
Lee,  Thomas  Sim,  320,  337 
Leffingwell,   Prof.  E.  H.,  190-194,  196, 

197,  247,  248,  263,  270 
Leggett  papers,  219 
Leicester,  Robert   Dudley,  Earl   of,  97, 

117,  123 
Leisler,  Jacob,  203 
Lennox,  Matthew,  Earl  of,  104 
Lenclos,  Anne  de  (Ninon),  117,  146 
Lenox  Librarv,  57 
Leo  X.,  Pope',  \\1,150 
Leonard,  George,  360 
Leopold,  177 
Leopold,  Archduke,  103 
Le  Sage,  Alain  Ren6,  134,  141,  145,  152, 

165 
Lessing,  Gotthold  Ephraim,  1 17, 145, 188 
Letellier,  43,  119,  138 


382 


INDEX 


Lewis,  Andrew,  193, 341 ;  autograph  very 

rare,  266 
Lewis,  Francis,  78,  306,  308,  320,  330 
Lewis,  George,  345 
Lewis,  Major,  185 

Lettres  Autographes  Composent  la  Collec- 
tion de  M.  Alfred  Bovet,  287-288 
L'Hommedieu,  Ezra,  320 
Libanius  the  Sophist  a  Collector,  15 
Liepmannssohn,  Leo,  82 
Ligne,  Prince  de,  231,  281 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  21,  75,  7(5,  181,  190, 

194,   198,  199,  200,  202.  241,  347; 

Emancipation      Proclamation,      224; 

Handwriting  did  not  change,  253. 
Lincoln,  Benjamin,  304,  341 
Lincoln,  Levi,  320 
Lispenard,  Leonard,  293 
Lithographs — see  Facsimiles. 
Livermore,  Samuel,  320,  360 
Livingston,  Philip,  78,  194,  289,  293, 

296,  308,  320 
Livingston,  Robert, 
Livingston,  Robert  C,  333 
Livingston,  Robert  L., 
Livingston,  Robert  R.  Sr.,  293 
Livingston,  Robert  R.,  300,  304,  320, 

333 
Livingston,  Walter,  302,  320 
Livingston,  William,  202,  2%,  320,  336 
Lloyd,  Edward,  320 
Lloyd,  James,  320 
Lloyd,  Thomas,  68 
Lloyd  papers,  219 
Locke,  John,  102,  204 
Logan,  Stephen  T.,  358 
London  Magazine,  57 
Long,  Pierse,  320 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  75,  Tl\\  Family 

papers,  217 
Loomis,  A.  W.,  355 
Lope  de  Vega — see  Vega. 
Lorraine,  Charles  de — see  Mayenne. 
Lorraine,  Henry  de — see  Guise. 
Lorraine,  Louis  de  Guise,  Cardinal  de, 

116,  117 
Louis  VII,  of  France,  117 
Louis  IX,  of  France,  118 
Louis  XI,  of  France,  90,  110, 132,  138 
Louis  XII,  of  France,  24,  111,  118,  126, 

138,  141 
Louis  XIII,  of  France,  100, 102 


Louis  XIV,  of  France,  71,  86, 103,  117, 
123,  141,  146 

Louis  XV,  of  France,  103,  146 

Louis  XVI,  44,  100, 103,  118,  126,  129, 
138 

Louis  XVII, 

Louis  XVIII,  165 

Louise  de  Savoie,  103 

Louisiana,  Spanish  archives  of,  218 

Lovelace,  Francis,  203 

Lovell,  James,  320,  329 

Low,  Isaac,  296,  320 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  75,  274 

Lowell,  John,  320,  332 

Lowndes,  Rawlins,  320 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  1 16,  137,  204 

Lucas,  Vrain,  forger,  44-50 

Ludwell,  Philip,  papers,  227 

Lulli,  Giambattista,  136 

Luther,  Martin,  46,  73,  103,  127,  129, 
137,  143,  144, 145, 148, 151, 154, 157, 
165,  189,  260;  Letter  presented  to 
William  II,  of  Germany  by  J.  Pierre- 
pont  Morgan,  note,  154 

Luynes,  Charles  d'Albert,  Due  de,  118 

Lynch,  Thomas,  New  York  merchant, 
265 

Lynch,  Thomas,  297 

Lynch,  Thomas,  Sr.,  294,  320;  auto- 
graph rare,  264,  265 

Lynch  Thomas,  Jr.,  22, 23,  64,  65,  74,  78, 
178, 180, 191, 196,  201, 226,  310,  320; 
signature  scarce,  256,  264,  265;  only 
one  letter  known,  180;  source  of  his 
signatures,  257;  forgeries,  256-258 

Lytton,  Bulwer,  274 

Mabillon,  dom  Jean,  90 
McClellan,  Gen.  George  B.,  181,  212 
McClurg,  James,  337 
McComb,  Eleazer,  320 
McCullough,  Hugh,  papers,  213 
McCurdy,  Charles  J.,  354 
MacDonald,  Frederick  R.,  His  In  a  Nook 

with  a  Book,  232-234 
McDougall,  Alexander,  307,  321,  341; 

papers,  219 
McDowell,  Joseph,  321;  autograph  very 

scarce,  264 
MacGregor,  Rob  Roy,  55 
McHenry,  tames,  321,  337,  345 
Machiavelli,  Nicolo,  118,  128 


INDEX 


383 


Mcintosh,  Lachlin,  321,  341 

McKean,  Thomas,  294.  297,  298,  309, 

321,  330;  papers,  225-226 
McKennan,  William,  355 
Mackenzie,  Henry,  60 
Mackenzie,  James,  55,  56,  57 
McKinley,  John,  321 
McKinley,  William,  347 
McKinney,  R.  J.,  356 
Macklin,  Charles,  94,  175 
McLane  papers,  219 
Maclay,  William,  359 
McLean,  John,  papers,  213 
McLene,  James,  320 
McNeill,  Hector,  192 
Macon,  Nathaniel,  320,  351 
Madigan,  P.  F.,  83 
Madigan,  Thomas,  83 
Madison,  Dolly,  212 
Madison,  James,  306,  346;  papers,  227 
Madison,  James,  Jr.,  321,  333,  337,  362 
Mahomet,  47 
Maine    Historical    Society    collections, 

217-218;  Fogg  collection,  181,217,279 
Maintenon,  Madame  de,  204 
Maistre,  Xavier  de,  30 
Major,  260 

Malebranche,  Nicolas,  132,  145 
Malesherbes,  142,  174 
Malet,  Giles,  112 

Malherbe,  Frangois  de,  103,  126, 165 
Mallet,  David,  94 
Mangum,  Willie  P.,  348 
Manning,  James,  321 
Mansart,  Jules  Hardouin,  called,  135 
Manton,  Daniel,  321 
Manzoni,  175 

Marat,  Jean  Paul,  70,  90,  141 
Marchant,  Henry,  301,  321,  329 
Marcy,  William  L.,  212 
Margaret  of  Austria,  132,  164 
Marguerite  d'Angoulfime,  141, 
Marguerite  de  France,  118 
Marguerite  de  Valois — see  Falois. 
Maria  Lxjuisa,  177 
Marie  Antoinette,  44,  70,  90,  JOS,  104, 

1 19,  129,  132,  138,  165 
Marillac,  Louis  de,  119 
Marine,  Agent  of,  307 
Marine  Committee  assistants,  305-306 
Marine,  Secretary  of,  307 
Marshall,  John,  228 


Marshall,  Thomas  K.,  350 

Martin,  Alexander,  321,  337 

Martin,  Alexandre,  87 

Martin,  Jacques,  104 

Martin  Luther,  321,  333,  337 

Martin,  Thomas,  356 

Marvel,  Andrew,  93,  124 

Mary  I,  of  England,  104,  1 19,  157 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  104,  1 18,  128,  129, 

133, 141,  144,  157, 165,  168, 169,  189, 

192 
Mary  Magdalene,  47;  spurious  letter,  50 
Maryland  governors,  197 
Mason,  George,  321,  334,  337;  papers, 

213 
Mason,  James  M.,  348 
Massillon,  J.  B.,  141 
Mather,  Cotton,  192,  211 
Mather,  Increase,  211 
Mather,  Richard,  211 
Mathews,  Gen.  George,  341,  362 
Mathews,  John,  304,  321,  331 
Matlack,  Timothy,  321 
Matthews,  John,  304 
Matthias,  Emperor  of  Germany,  20 
Maury,  Matthew  F.,  212 
Maximilian,  Emperor  of  Germany,  20, 

118 
Maxwell,  Gen.  William,  341 
Mayenne,  Charles  de  Lorraine,  Due  de, 

104 
Mayer,  Brantz,  170,  182 
Mazarin,  Cardinal,  71,  90,  98,  99,  121, 

133,  140,  162 
Mazarine  Gallery,  208 
Meade,  Richard  K.,  345 
Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, 228 
Medicis,  Catherine  de,  24,  101, 104,  112, 

116,  125,  132,  133,  139,  144, 168, 189 
Medicis,  Cosmo  de,  1 19 
Medicis,  Francesco  de,  147 
Medicis,  Lorenzo  de,  96,  116,  120,  121, 

123 
Medicis,  Marie  de,  90,  104,  133,  163 
Medicis,  Pietro  de.  111,  117 
Melancthon,  Philipp,  148,  165, 188,  260 
Menage,  M.,  121 
Menage,  Gilles,  126 
Mendelssohn,  Moses,  152 
Mendoza,  Don  Inigo  Lopez  de,  149 


384 


INDEX 


Mercator,  Gerard  Kauffmann,  called, 
149 

Mercer,  Hugh,  76,  201,  341;  autograph 
rare,  266 

Mercer,  James,  321 

Mercer,  John, 

Mercer,  John  Francis,  321,  337 

Meredith,  George,  274 

Meredith,  Samuel,  321 

Meredith,  William  M.,  355 

Mersenne,  Pere,  114,  115 

Metastasio,  174 

Mexican  war  papers,  218 

Mezeray  Francois  Eudes,  119 

Michaux,  176 

Michelangelo  Buonarotti,  119,  135,  138, 
149, 163 

Mickley.JosephJ.,  170, 181 

Middleton,  Arthur,  78,  310,^321;  ad- 
vance in  values,  269-270,  270 

Middleton,  Henry,  297,  298,  321;  auto- 
graph very  rare,  264 

Mifflin,  Thomas,  296,  298,  303,  304, 
321,  336,  341,  345 

Mignard,  Pierre,  90,  119,  126,  146 

Migrations  and  Pedigrees  of  Autographs, 
230-240 

Milan,  Duke  of,  164,  168 

Miller,  Nathan,  321 

Miller,  Dr.  Ph.,  102 

Millet,  Jean  Franjois,  131 

Milligan,  Samuel,  356 

Milton,  John,  73,  99,  221,  226,  253; 
autograph  in  British  Museum,  20 

Minuit,5Peter,  203 

Mirandola — see  Pico. 

Missouri  Historical  Society  Collection, 
218 

Mitchell,  Nathaniel,  321 

Mitchell,  Stephen  Mix,  321 

Mole,  M.  dela,  113 

Moliere,  J.  B.  Poquelin,  104,  1 19,  134, 
145,  209 

Monk,  93 

Monmerqu6, 87;  sale,  89-91, 1 17, 1 18, 120 

Monmouth,  James,  Duke  of,  105,  128 

Monroe,  James,  185,  322,  346,  360; 
papers,  227 

Montaigne,  47,  209 

Montalembert,  30 

Montcalm  de  Saint  Veran,  Louis  Joseph, 
Marquis  de,  1 19 


Montgomery,  174 

Montgomery,  Gabriel,  Comte  de,  105 

Montgomery,  John,  322 

Montgomery,  Joseph,  322;  autograph 
very  rare,  263 

Montgomery,  Gen.  Richard,  76, 199, 201, 
341;  autograph  rare,  266 

Montgomery,  William,  322 

Montigny,  Lucas  de,  87,  124,  280;  col- 
lection, 125-126 

Montmorency,  Anne  de,  the  Constable, 
115,  120 

Montmorency,  Henry  II,  Due  de,  105 

Montmorency,  House  of,  86 

Montrose,  Marquis  of,  128,  129 

Moore,  Alfred,  200,  334 

Moore,  Andrew,  362 

Moore,  Gen.  James,  193,  341;  auto- 
graph rare,  266 

Moore,  Dr.  John,  168 

Moore,  Thomas,  174 

Moore,  William,  322 

More,  Hannah,  175 

Morehead,  Charles  S.,  357 

Morehead,  J.  M.,  356 

Morgan,  Gen.  Daniel,  341 ;  papers,  222 

Morgan,  J.  Pierrepont,  196;  and  the  Lu- 
ther letter,  note,  154 

Morgan,  Lady,  175 

Morghen,  176 

Morrill,  Lot  M.,  353 

Morris,  Cadwalader,  322 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  322,  330,  336 

Morris,  Lewis,  78,  301,  308,  322 

Morris,  Robert,  78,  302,  307,  309,  322, 
330,  333,  336,  359 

Morrison,  Alfred,  88,  159,  160,  161,  237, 
243;  sale,  159-169;  catalogue,  160, 161, 
288 

Morse,  Freeman  H.,  353 

Morse,  Jedediah,  185 

Morton,  John,  202,  294,  296,  309,  322 

Morton,  Levi  P.,  350 

Mothe  de  Vaingfield,  M.  de  la,  118 

Motte,  Isaac,  322 

Moulton,  Louise  Chandler,  212 

Moultrie,  Gen.  William,  341 

Mowry,  Daniel,  322 

Moxon,  54 

Moylan,  Gen.  Stephen,  341,  345 

Mozart,  149, 153, 154, 165, 189,  204 

Mucianus  a  collector,  15 


INDEX 


385 


Muhlenberg,  Fredk.  Augustus,  322,  351, 
361 

Muhlenberg,  Gen.  Peter,  341,  361 
Mumford,  Paul,  322 
Munson,  Capt.  William,  193 
Murdock,  William,  294;  autograph  ex- 
tremely rare,  265 
Murphy,  175 
Murray,  John,  53,  54 
Murray,  Joseph,  289,  291 
Mus^e  des  Archives  Nationales,  209 
Museum  Thoresbyanum,  88 
Musgrave,  Sir  William,  88 
Myers,  T.  Bailey,  227;  collection,  222 

Napoleon,  14,  73,  92,  105,  111,  139,  140, 
142,  144,  151,  165,  167,  188,  1S9,  206, 
207,  217;  deterioration  of  autograph, 
254-255 

Nash,  Abner,  322,  334 

Nash,  Gen.  Francis,  193,  341;  autograph 
very  rare,  266 

Nassau,  Maurice  of,  105 

Nassau,  Philibert  de,  113 

Naval  Officers,  197 

Navarre — see  Albret,  Henri  d'. 

Navarre,  Queen  of;  see  Albret,  Jeanne  d'; 
Falois,  Marguerite  de;  Marguerite  d' 
Angoulime. 

Navy  Department,  Revolutionary,  305 

Naylor,  Frederick,  81 

Neilson,  John,  322,  336 

Nelson,  Lord,  53,  93,  106,  233;  his  letter 
to  Thomas  Lloyd,  68;  his  correspond- 
ence with  Lady  Hamilton,  160. 

Nelson,  Thomas,  Jr.,  7S,  309,  322,  337 

Netherclift,  J.  and  F.,  Books  of  facsimile 
autographs,  284,  285,  286,  287 

Neuville,  Chevalier  de  la,  76,  341;  auto- 
graph extremely  rare,  265 

Neve,  Peter  le,  87,  88 

Nevers,  House  of,  86 

Nevill,  Gen.  John,  342 

Newcomb,  Simon,  212 

Newenham,  Sir  Edward,  158 

New  Hampshire  Historical  Society  Col- 
lection, 219 

New  Madrid  archives,  218 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  14,  45,  46,  93,  106, 
123,  128,132,193,233 

New  York  Historical  Society  collection, 
219-220 


New  York  Dutch  Governors,  203 

New  York  MSS.,  224 

New    York    Public    Library    collection, 

220-222;  Emmet  collection,  180,  220 
New  York  State  Library  collection,  222, 

224 
Nichols    (John   Gough) — Autographs  of 

Royal,  Noble,  Learned  and  Remarkable 

Personages,  etc.,  18-19,  87,  283 
Nicola,  Gen.  Lewis,  342 
Nigro,  Fr.,  1 18 

Nixon,  Col.  John,  211,  305,  342 
Norfolk,  John,  Duke  of,  99,  102 
Norfolk,  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of,  120 
Norris,  Isaac,  290,  292 
North  Carolina  signers,  269 
Northwestern    Literary    and    Historical 

Society  a  fraud,  38 
Northumberland,  Algernon,  Earl  of,  128, 

129 
Nostradamus,  Caesar,  106 
Noyes,  William  Curtis,  354 

Oates,  Titus,  128 

Oberleitner,  Charles,  286 

Occam,  Sampson,  papers,  214 

Ogden,  Matthias,  342 

Ogden,  Robert,  293 

Old  Congress — see  Continental  Congress. 

Old,  Mr.,  Conversations  with  Mr.  Young, 

240-282 
Olden,  Charles  S.,  355 
Orange,  Prince  of,  113 
Orange,  William  the  Silent,  Prince  of, 

151,  166 
Orange,  William  II,  of,  108 
Orleans,  Due  d',  132;  see  Valois. 
Ormond,  Marquis  of,  23,  127,  163,  234- 

237 
Orr,  James  L.,  352 
Orth,  Godlove  S.,  357 
Osborne,  Adlai,  322 
Osgood,  Samuel,  302,  322 
Otis,  James,  Jr.,  293 
Otis,  Samuel  A.,  322 
Ovid,  47 

Oxford,  Earl  of,  86 
Oxford,  Harley,  Earl  of — see  Harley. 

Paar,  Ludwig,   Count,   146;   collection, 

146-150 
Paca,  William,  7S,  297,  309,  322 


386 


INDEX 


Page,  John,  362 

Page,  Mann,  Jr.,  301,  322;  confused  with 

Mann,  Sr.,  247 
Paine,  Elisha,  322 
Paine,  Ephraim,  322 
Paine,  Robert  Treat,  78,  295,  308,  322 
Paine,  Thomas,  93,  199 
Palfrey,  William,  345 
Palmer,  Barbara — see  Cleveland. 
Palmer,  John,  94 
Palmer,  John  M.,  358 
Pandolphino,  108 
Pare,  Ambroise,  90,  120,  126 
Paredes — see  Garcia. 
Parison  sale,  138 

Parker,  John,  322;  autograph  rare,  264 
Parker,  Josiah,  362 
Parma,  Archduchess  of,  128 
Parma,  Duke  ot — see  Farnese. 
Parnell,  Thomas,  94 
Parr,  Dr.,  175 
Parr,  Lord,  98 
Parr,  Catherine,  98, 157 
Parsons,  Gen.  Samuel,  342 
Parsons,  Theophilus,  332 
Parsons,  W.,  94 
Partridge,  George,  323,  360 
Partridge,  Oliver,  291,  293 
Pascal,  Blaise,  45,  46,  123,  126, 132,  209 
Pasta,  176 

Paterson,  Gen.  John,  342 
Paterson,  William,  323,  336,  359 
Patten,  John,  323;  autograph  rare,  264 
Patterson,  Gen.  Samuel,  323 
Paul  I,  of  Russia,  192 
Payne,  John  Howard,  184 
Peabody,  Nathaniel,  323 
Peace  Congress  of  1861,  198,  245,  353- 

358 
Pearson,  J.  &  Co.,  82 
Pedigrees  of  autographs,  230-240 
Peiresc,  Fabri  de,  86 
Peery,  William,  323 
Pell,  Philip,  323 
Pellisson,  137,  142,  166 
Pendleton,  Edmund,  297,  323;  papers, 

227 
Pendleton,    Nathaniel,    338 
Penn,  John,  78,  269,  292,  310,  323,  330 
Penn,  Thomas,  199 
Penn,  William,  75,  76, 178, 188, 192, 203, 

207,  225 


Penn  MSS.,  225 

Penns,  The,  177 

Pennington,  William,  352 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  collec- 
tions, 224-227;  Penn  MSS.,  225; 
Washington  letters,  225;  Wayne  Col- 
lection, 225;  Wilson  papers,  225;  Mc- 
Kean  papers,  225;  Poinsett  papers, 
226;  Conarroe  papers,  226;  Dreer  Col- 
lection, 180,  226,  279;  Etting  Collec- 
tion, 179,  226;  Buchanan  letters,  226; 
Franklin  letters,  225 

Pennsylvania  University;  Hale  Collec- 
tion, 201 

Pepperill,  Sir  William,  papers,  216 

Pepys,  Samuel,  93 

Percy,    Algernon — see   Northumberland. 

Pericles,  47 

Perrault,  Charles,  90 

Perrugin,  Petro  Vanucci,  called,  135 

Perry,  Belmont — autograph  imposter,  32 

Perry,  John  J.,  353 

Person,  Thomas,  323;  autograph  rare, 
264 

Pescara,  Marquise  de — see  Colonna, 
Fittoria. 

Peter,  Saint,  47,  49 

Peter  the  Great  of  Russia,  147 

Peters,  Hugh,  129 

Peters,  Richard,  292,  304,  305,  323 

Pettit,  Charles,  323 

Peutinger,  Conrad,  148 

de  Peyster  papers,  219 

Philip  I,  of  Spain,  128 

Philip  II,  of  Spain,  70,  100,  106,  119, 
133,  147,  169,  177 

Philip  IV,  of  Spain,  100 

Philip  V,  of  Spain,  92 

Philippe  II,  of  France,  Philippe  Auguste, 
120 

Phillips,  Lawrence  B,,  287 

Phillips,  Peter,  323 

Phillips,  Sir  Thomas,  88 

Phillips,  Gen.  William,  228 

Photographic  reproductions — see  Fac- 
similes. 

Picard,  Ludovic — French  imposter,  29 

Piccini,  Nicolas,  142 

Piccolomini,  /Eneas,  see  Pius  II. 

Pickering,  John,  323,  335 

Pickering,  Timothy,  303 

Pickering,  William,  73 


INDEX 


387 


Pico  della  Mirandola,  Giovanni,  133 
Pierce,  Franklin,  346 
Pierce,  William,  323,  338 
Pilate,  Pontius,  47 
Pinckney,  Charles,  323,  338 
Pinckney,  Charles  Cotesworth,  338,  342 
Pinckney,  Thomas,  323 
Pinkerton,  John,  175;  papers,  216 
Pinkney,  Edward  C.,270;  extremely  rare, 

272 
Pippi,  Giulio — see  Giulio  Romano. 
Pirkheimer,  Wilibald,  148 
Piron,  Alexis,  90,  106 
Pitkin,  William,  292,  323 
Pius  II,  Pope,  120 
Pix6r6court,  Guilbert  de,  87 
Pizarro,  162 
Plancy,  M.  de,  114 
Plater,  George,  323 
Piatt,  Zephaniah,  323 
Plinv,  16,  47 
Poe,  Edgar  A.,  75,  184,  193;  MS.  of 

Murders  in  the  Rue  Morgue,  216 
Poinsett,  Joel  R.,  papers,  226 
Poisson — see  Pompadour. 
Pole,  Edmund  de  la — see  Suffolk. 
Pole,  Reginald,  Cardinal,  128 
Poliziano,  Angelo,  120 
Polk,  James  K.,  346,  351 
Polk,  Thomas,  323 
Pollock,  James,  355 
Poltrot,  assassin,  116 
Pomeroy,    Seth,    193,    342;    autograph 

rare,  266 
Pomeroy,  Theodore  M.,  352 
Pompadour,  Madame  de,  70,  90, 142, 146 
Pompeius  Secundus,  a  collector,  16 
Pompey,  47 

Pomponne,  Arnauld  de,  140 
Pontius  Pilate,  47 
Poor,  Enoch,  342 
"Poor  Man's  Prayer,"  56,  57 
Poore,  Ben  Perlev,  170,  182 
Pope,  Alexander,  22,  59,  93,  94, 106,  124, 

175,  189,  11\ 
Popham,  Sir  John,  106 
Poquelin,  J.  B. — see  Moliere. 
Porson,  Richard,  93,  123,  175 
Portsmouth,  Duchess  of,  120 
Post  Office  Department,  Revolutionary, 

307 
Potter,  John  F.,  358 


Potts,  Richard,  323 

Poussin,  Nicholas,  106 

Pratt,  James  T.,  354 

Preble,  Edwin,  papers,  213 

Presidents  of  the  Continental  Congress, 

229,  298-299 
Presidents  pro  tern  of  the  Senate,  347- 

350 
Presidents  of  the  United  States,  74,  181, 
187,  191,  195,  197,  198,  204,  206,  212, 
216,  218,   229,   244,   250,   346-347; 
papers  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  212 
Pretender,  the  Old — see  James  III. 
Pretender,  the  Young,  55 
Prevost  D'Exiles,  L'Abb6,  90,  134,  142, 

145 
Price,  Rodman  M.,  355 
Prices  of  other  things  than  autographs, 

15 
Prices  from  1827  to  1859,  71,  72 
Prices  at  Bovet  sale,  72,  73 
Cist  sale,  77-78 
Cohn  sale,  73,  74 
Danforth  sale,  77-78 
Dillon  sale,  73 
Donnadieu  sale,  72,  73,  74,  95- 

109 
Fillon  sale,  74,  132-137 
Huth  sale,  72,  73 
Young  sale,  74 
Monmerqu6  sale,  89-91 
Upcott  sale,  92-93 
Tefft  sale,  183 
Leffingwell  sale,  196 
Priestley,  176 

Prior,  Matthew,  94,  95,  124 
Proctor,  Bryan  W.,  175 
Progressive  decrease  in  market  value  of 

autographs,  69-78 
Pseudo  Autograph  Collectors,  29 
Ptolemy  III,  5 
Public  Collections  in  America,  210-229; 

in  Europe,  208-210 
Pulaski,  Count,  76,  342;  autograph  very 

rare,  266 
Pulci,  Luigi,  120 
Putnam,  Israel,  76,  190,  201,  250,  342 

autograph  very  rare,  266 
Putnam,  Rufus,  342 
Puttick  &  Simpson,  95,  157,  285 
Puy,  M.  de,  107,  121 
Pynchon,  Col.  John,  200 


388 


INDEX 


Qualities   that  determine   the  value  of 

autographs,  21 
Quaritch,  Bernard,  72, 73, 74, 82, 221, 237 
Querouille,  Louise  de — see  Portsmouth. 
Quick,  John,  94 

Rabelais,  Franfois,  42,  43,  45,  47,  120, 

128, 132,  138,  166 
Racan,  Honorat  de  Bueil,  Marquis  de, 

142 
Racine,  Jean,  43,  44,  47,  7/,  128,  134, 

138,  166,  174 
Raffles,  Rev.  Dr.,  88,  178 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  23, 106, 127, 129, 158 
Rameau,  Jean  Phil.,  136,  142 
Ramsay,  David,  298,  323 
Ramsey,  Nathaniel,  323 
Randall,  Samuel  J.,  352 
Randolph,  Edmund,  323,  333,  337,  345 
Randoplh,  Joseph  F.,  355 
Randolph,  Peyton,  295,  297,  298,  323 
Randolph  papers,  227 
Rantzau,  Joseph,  Comte  de,  121 
Raphael  Sanzio,  47,  106,  121,  135,  138, 

153,  154,  163;  migration  of  a  sketch, 

231,281 
Rapin,  Pfire,  141 
Rarity  of  autographs — see  Conversation 

Five. 
Read,  George,  297,  309,  324,  333,  336, 

359 
Read,  Jacob,  324 
Read,  James,  306 
Read,  T.  Buchanan,  274 
Reade,  Charles,  274 
Recherche  autographs,  266 
Reed,  Gen.  James,  342 
Reed,  Joseph,  324,  330,  342,  345 
Reed,  Thomas  B.,  352 
Reed  papers,  219 
Reid,  David  S.,  356 
Reid,  James  R.,  324 
Rembrandt,  74,  107,  128,  136,  152,  166 
Ren6  d'  Anjou,  121 

Replies  for  requests  for  autographs,  26 
Reuchlin,  Johann,  137,  145,  148 
Revere,  Paul,  193,  201 
Revolutionary  Cabinets,  300-306 
Revolutionary  War— see  Generals. 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  95,  129,  156 
Rhoads,  Samuel,  296,  324;    autograph 

rare,  264 


Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  collec- 
tion, 227 

Ricci,  Francesco,  168 

Rich  collection,  221 

Richard  II,  of  England,  18 

Richard  III,  of  England,  107, 166 

Richardson,  Samuel,  71,  95,  124,  175, 
189,  207 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  74,  119,  127,  128, 
133,  162;  autograph  of  his  secretary 
like  his,  255 

Ridgeley,  Henry,  355 

Ridgeley,  Richard,  324 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb,  274 

Rillbank,  Crescent  MSS.,  56 

Ringgold,  Thomas,  294 

Rives,  William  C,  356 

Roberdeau,  Daniel,  324,  330 

Roberts,  Charles,  179;  Roberts  Hall  at 
Haverford  College,  179 

Roberts,  Dr.  W.  H.,  57 

Robespierre,  71,  148, 166 

Rochefoucauld,  Franfois,  Due  de  la,  90 

Rochefoucauld,  Franfois  VI,  Due  de  la, 
141 

Rochester,  Lord,  105 

Rodney,  Cssar,  78,  293,  297,  309,  324 

Rodney,  Caesar  A., 

Rodney,  George  B.,  355 

Rodney,  Thomas,  185,  324 

Rogers,  John,  297,  324;  autograph  very 
rare,  263 

Rogers,  Samuel,  174 

Rohan,  Henri,  Due  de,  90 

Rohan,  Prince  de,  111 

Roland,  Madame,  71,  91 

Roman,  J.  Dixon,  356 

Romano — see  Giulio  Romano. 

Romney,  George,  95 

Ronald,  William,  334 

Ronsard,  Pierre  de,  133,  142, 144 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  347,  350 

Root,  Jesse,  303,  304,  324 

Rosa — see  Sahator  Rosa. 

Roscoe,  175 

Rosenbach,  A.  S.  W.,  84 

Ross,  David,  324,  334;  autograph  ex- 
tremely rare,  263;  another  David  some- 
times passes  for  him,  247 

Ross,  George,  78,  296,  309,  324 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques,  91,  107,  176 

Rousseau,  Theodore,  131 


INDEX 


389 


Rowe,  Nicholas,  124,  129 

Rowland,  David,  293;  autograph  rare, 

265 
Roy,  Rob,  55 
Rubens,  Peter  Paul,  107,  121,  128,  136, 

153,  154,  166,  176 
Ruffin,  Thomas,  356 
Ruggles,  Timothy,  293;  autograph  rare, 

265 
Rumsey,  Benjamin,  301,  324 
Rupert,  Prince,  93, 107,  123,  128,  129 
Rush,  Benjamin,  309,  324 
Russell,  Gen.  William,  342 
Rutherford,  John,  78,  289,  303 
Rutledge,  Edward,  297,  303,  310,  324 
Rutledge,  John,  294,  297,  299,  324,  338 

Sabin,  Joseph,  83 

Sabli^re — see  La  Sabliire. 

Saint  Albans,  Viscount — see  Bacon. 

Saint  Amant,  Sieur  de,  142 

Saint-Beuve,  87 

St.  Clair,  Arthur,  224,  299,  325,  342 

Saint  Genevieve  Archives,  218 

St.  George,  Chevalier  de— see  James  III. 

Saint  Louis  Archives,  218 

St.  Marthe,  M.  de,  107 

Saint-Pierre,  Bernadin  de,  91 

Sales,  noted — see  Collections  and  Col- 
lectors. 

Sales,  St.  Francis  de,  91,  107,  121,  134, 
144,  150,  204 

Salisbury,  Robert  Cecil,  Earl  of,  107 

Salmatius,  176 

Salvator  Rosa,  123 

Samblan9ay,  Baron  de,  1 14 

Sand,  Madame  Georges,  30 

Sandeau,  Jules,  31 

Santi,  Raffaele,  135 

Sardou,  Victorien,  87 

Saumaise,  Claude  de,  107 

Savage,  Richard,  94 

Savonarola,  Girolamo,  132 

Savoy,  Duke  of,  144 

Saxe- Weimar,  Duke  of,  96,  177 

Saxony,  Augustus,  Duke  of,  165 

Saxony,  John,  Duke  of,  157 

Saxony,  Duke  of,  73 

Scala,  Bartolomeo,  121 

Scaliger,  Joseph  Justus,  107 

Scammel,  Col.  Alexander,  193,  201 

Scarron,  Paul,  134,  142,  145, 166 


Schiller,  61,62,  63, /<?<? 

Schlegel,  176 

Schubert,  Franz,  189 

Schulz,  Otto  August,  82 

Schureman,  James,  324,  333,  361 

Schuyler,  Gen.  Philip,  21 1,  324,  342,  359 

papers,  222 
Science  des  Autographes,  La,  85 
Scott,  Dr.,  his  Auto^aph  Collecting,  14, 

54,  260;  his  Guide  to  the  Collector  of 

Historical  Documents,  7 
Scott,  Gen.  Charles,  342 
Scott,  Colville,  56 
Scott,  Gustavus,  324 
Scott,  John  Morin,  304,  324 
Scott,  Thomas,  361 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  53,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59, 

71,  93,  94, 108,  174,  221;  forgeries,  54, 

55 
Scudder,  Nathaniel,  324,  330 
Scudery,  Madame  de,  141 
Searle,  James,  306,  324 
Seddon,  James  A.,  356 
Sedgwick,  Theodore,  324,  351,  360 
Selden,  John,  94,  124,  128 
Senev,  Joshua,  324,  361 
Sensi'er,  Alfred,  87,  130-131,  143,  280 
Sergeant,  Jonathan  D.,  324 
Settle,  E.,  94 

Seurin,  Chastelain  de  la  Mottc,  122 
Severn,  Joseph,  158 
Sevier,  John,  362 
Sevign6,  Marquise  de,  121 
Sforza,  Galeas  Maria  Visconti,  121 
Sforza,  Ludovicus  Marie,  108 
Shadwell,  Thomas,  94 
Shakespeare,  46 

Sharpe,  William,  302,  307,  325 
Shea,  176 

Sheldon,  Gen.  Elisha,  342 
Shelley,  Percy  B.,  53,  54,  74,  93,  94,  124, 

145, 158,  175,  189 
Shenstone,  William,  94 
Shepard,  Gen.  William,  342 
Sherburne,  Henry,  Jr.,  291 

Senior  and  Junior  often  confused,  249 
Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  93,  94,  177 
Sherman,  James  S.,  350 
Sherman,  John,  349;  papers,  213 
Sherman,  Roger,  78,  295.  301,  302,  303, 

308,  325,  329,  335,  360 
Sherman,  Gen.  Wm.  T.,  212 


390 


INDEX 


Shippen,  Edward, 

Shippen,  William,  325;  Father  and  son 
often  confused,  248 

Shore,  Sir  John,  175 

Shrewsbury,  John  Talbot,  Earl  of,  122 

Sickingen,  Franz  von,  144, 148,  154 

Siddons,  Mrs.  Sarah,  94, 166 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  128.    See  also  Sydney. 

Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, 74,  77,  178,  179,  180,  181,  182, 
183,  183,  187,  191, 195,  196,  197,  198, 
200,  204,  206,  211,  217,  220,  222,  223, 
226,  229,  256,  308-310;  prices  at  Cist 
and  Danforth  sales,  77-78;  at  Tefft 
sale,  183 

Signers — see  Articles  of  Confederation, 
Constitution,  etc. 

Simms,  William  Gilmore,  212 

Sims,  George  R. — Among  my  Autographs, i 

Sims,  Richard,  286 

Sinnickson,  Thomas,  361 

Sismondi,  175 

Sitgreaves,  John,  325 

Six  Nations,  Convention  with,  289 

Sloan  collection,  20 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  86,  210 

Slaughter,  Thomas  C.,  358 

Sloughter,  Henry,  203 

Smallwood,  Gen.  William,  325,  342 

Smith,  Adam,  93 

Smith,  Alexander  Hamilton,  54-60 

Smith,  "Antique,"  54-60 

Smith,  Benjamin,  325,  345 

Smith,  Caleb  B.,  357 

Smith,  Charles  John — Book  on  Auto- 
graphs, 283 

Smith,  Horace,  174 

Smith,  James,  309,  325 

Smith,  James  C,  354 

Smith,  John  J. — American  Historical 
and  Literary  Curiosities,  285,  286 

Smith,  Jonathan  Bayard,  301,  303,  325, 
330 

Smith,  Margaret  Bayard,  212 

Smith,  Melancton,  325 

Smith,  Merewether,  325,  334;  autograph 
rare,  264 

Smith,  Richard,  296,  325 

Smith,  Thomas,  325 

Smith,  William,  306,  325 

Smith,  William,  362 


Smith,  William,  Sr.,  291;  often  confused 
with  Junior,  249 

Smith,  William  Laughton,  362 

Smith,  William  S.,  345 

Smollett,  Tobias,  81,  124,  129 

Somerset,  Edward,  Duke  of,  108 

Somes,  Daniel  E.,  353 

"Song  to  the  Rosebud,"  56 

Sophocles,  15 

Sorel,  Agnes,  122,  138,  209 

Sotheby  &  Wilkinson,  54,  161,  288 

Sotheby,  Samuel  Leigh — Ramblings  in 
the  Elucidation  of  the  Autograph  of  Mil- 
ton, 253,  254,  259,  260 

Southard,  Samuel  L.,  348 

Southern  Confederacy,  198 

Southerne,  Thomas,  94,  124,  129, 189 

Southey,  Robert,  174, 201, 221, 232,  271, 
273 

Spaight,  Richard  Dobbs,  325,  338 

Spalatinus,  C.  G.,  103 

Spanish  Archives  in  Missouri,  218 

Sparhawk,  John,  325 

Speakers  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, 351-352 

Spencer,  Joseph,  194,  304,  325,  342 

Speroni,  108 

Spinoza,  47,  128, 149, 152 

Sprague,  William  B.,  170,  173,  178,  184, 
185,  186,  187,  190,  267,  272,  280 

Spring,  Robert,  65-67 

Spurious  autographs,  40-68 

Stamp  Act  Congress,  191,  198,  204,  220, 
226,  264,  293-294;  scarce  names,  265 

Standish,  Myles,  203 

Stanley,  Col.  Nathaniel,  290 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  212 

Stanton,  Joseph,  Jr.,  359 

Stargardt,  J.  A.,  82 

Stark,  Gen.  John,  342;  autograph  very 
rare,  266 

State  Department  of  the  Revolution,  300 

State  Historical  Society — see  Wisconsin. 

Steele,  John,  362 

Steele,  Sir  Richard,  93,  124,  175 

Stella,  Jacques,  135 

Stephen,  Adam,  342;  papers,  213 

Stephens,  William  H.,  357 

Sterne,  Laurence,  14,  71,  95,  124,  /dd, 
178,  207 

Steuben,  Baron,  343;  papers,  219 

Stevens,  John,  Sr.  (N.  J.),  325 


INDEX 


391 


Stevens,  John,  Sr.  (Vt.),  papers,  224 
Stevens,  John,  Jr.,  often  mistaken  for 

John,  Sr.,  247 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  papers,  213 
Stevenson,  Adiai  E.,  350 
Stevenson,  Andrew,  351 
Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  274 
Steward,  Mr.,  99 
Stewart,  Charles,  325 
Stewart,  Dugald,  175 
Stewart,  Gen.  Walter,  342 
Stewart  papers,  219 
Stillie,  James,  55,  56,  57 
Stirk,  Samuel,  325 
Stirling,  Earl  of,  211,  343 

papers,  219 
Stockton,  Richard,  78,  309,  325 
Stockton,  Robert  F.,  355 
Stoddard,  Col.  John,  289 
Stokes,  John,  325 

autograph  very  rare,  264 
Stone,  J.  C.,  358 
Stone,  Michael  Jenifer,  362 
Stone,  Thomas,  78,  299,  309,  325,  337 
Strafford,  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of, 

24,  25, 108,  122 
Strahan,  William,  81 
Strong,  Caleb,  325,  335,  359 
Strong,  Jedediah,  325 
Stryk,  Samuel — Facsimile  from  his  Alba 

Amicorum,  20 
Stryker,  Thomas  J.,  355 
Stuart,  Charles  E.,  349 
Stuart,  Henry — see  Darnley. 
Stuart,  Mary — see  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 
Sturges,  Jonathan,  325,  361 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  188,  203,  207 
Sue,  Eugene,  31 
Suetonius,  47 

Suffolk,  Edmund,  Earl  of,  108 
Sullivan,  James,  326,  332 
Sullivan,  Gen.  John,  219,  295,  326,  343 
Sully,  Due  de,  85 
Summers,  George  W.,  356 
Sumner,  Increase,  326 
Sumner,  Gen.  Jethro,  343 
Sumter,  Gen.  Thomas,  326,  362 
Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S.,  198,  206 
Swain,  Gov.  David  L.,  Collection,  268- 

269 
Swan,  John,  Major  in  Revolution,  247; 

mistaken  for  John  Swann,  246 


Swann,  John,  autograph  very  rare,  263, 
326;  John  Swan's  autograph  mistaken 
for  it,  246 

Swann,  John,  M.  C.  from  N.  C,  247 

Swedenborg,  Emanuel,  129 

Swift,  Dean  Jonathan,  23,  71, 93, 94, 124, 
129,  167,  175 

Swift,  Gen.  Heman,  343 

Sydney,  Sir  Philip,  94 

Sykes,  James,  326 

Sylvester,  Peter,  361 

Symmes,  John  Cleves,  326 

Taft,  William  H.,  347 

Talbot,  John — see  Shrewsbury. 

Talcott,  Joseph,  papers,  215 

Tarb6,  87 

Tasker,  Benjamin,  292 

Tasso,  Bernardo,  108 

Tasso,  Torquato,  22,  91, 134, 167,  176 

Taste  for  collecting  autographs,  13 

Tavanne,  M.  de,  116 

Tavanne,  Vicomte  de,  117 

Taylor,  Bayard,  274 

Taylor,  George,  202,  309,  326;  confused 

with  a  N.  J.  coast  guard  of  same  name, 

249 
Taylor,  John  W.,  351 
Taylor,  Zachary,  190,  346 
Tefft,  Israel  K.,  170,  172,  182,  190,  257 
Telfair,  Edward,  302,  326,  331 
Terrail,  Seigneur  de.  111 
Teulet,  Mr.,  Ill,  113 
Thacher,  George,  326,  360 
Thacher,  John  Boyd,  202-205 
Thackeray,  Wm.  M.,  53,  55,  58, 184, 207, 

274;  MS.  of  Lecture  on  George  III,  216 
Thane's  British  Autography,  87,  283 
Thatcher,  Benjamin  B.,  170,  171 
Thomas,  Isaiah,  210;  History  oj  Printing, 

211 
Thomas,  John,  343;  autograph  rare,  266 
Thomas  papers,  220 
Thompson,  Ebenezer,  326 
Thompson,  Gen.  William,  343 
Thomson,  James,  94,  124,  129 
Thoreau,  Henrv  D.,  274 
Thoresby,  Ralph,  87,  88,  91 
Thornton,  Matthew,  78,  308,  326 
Thornton,  Presly  P.,  345 
Thorwaldsen,  176 
Thou,  Jacques  Auguste  de,  1 12 


392 


INDEX 


Thouars,  Vicomte  de — see  La  TremoiUe. 

Tiberius,  47 

Tickell,  Thomas,  94 

Tilgliman,  Edward,  294 

Tilgiiman,  Matthew,  297,  326 

Tilghman,  Tench,  345 

Tiiiiers,  Comte  de,  118 

Tilton,  James,  326 

Titian,  135, 149, 153, 167 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  348;  papers,  223 

Totten,  A.  W.  O.,  356 

Townshend,  Lord,  106 

Trapier,  Paul,  Jr.,  326;  confused  with  his 
father,  248 

Treadwell,  John,  326 

Treasury  Board,  301 

Treat,  Amos  S.,  354 

Tremont,  Louis  Philippe  Joseph,  Baron 
de,  87,  109,  110,  231,  280,  281;  collec- 
tion, 24, 43,  143;  sale,  71,  109-122 

Trivulce,  Cardinal  de,  114,  119 

Trollope,  Anthony,  274 

Tromp,  Martin  Harpert2oon,  122 

Trumbull,  John,  345 

Trumbull,  Jonathan,  351;  papers,  215 

Trumbull,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  302,  326,  345, 
361;  papers,  215 

Trumbull,  Joseph,  296,  304,  326 

Trumbull,  Lyman,  papers,  213 

Tuck,  Amos,  353 

Tucker,  St.  George,  333 

Tucker,  Thomas  Tudor,  326,  362 

Tuckerman,  Henry  T.,  272 

Tupper,  Gen.  Benjamin,  343 

Turenne,  Comte,  105,  111 

Turenne,  Marshall,  100 

Turner,  Dawson,  88;  collection,  122-124; 
sale,  71;  catalogue,  285 

Turner,  James  W.,  64-65 

Turner,  Thomas  J.,  358 

Tuscany,  Grand  Duke  of,  99 

Twiller,  Wouter  van,  203 

Tyler,  John,  346,  348,  356 

Underwood,  Levi,  353 

Upcott,  William,  88,  91-95;  collection, 

91-95;  sale,  71, 91-95, 95,  99, 100,  101, 

102,  104,  107,  109 
Urbain  VIII,  Pope,  122 

Vadier,  138 

Vaingfield,  M.  de  la  Mothe  de,  118 


Valentinois,  Duke  of — see  Borgia,  Casar. 
Valentinois,  Duchesse  de — see  Diana  of 

Poictiers. 
Vall6,  Franfois,  papers,  218 
Valois,  Charles  le,  126 
Valois,  Marguerite  de,  118, 126, 129, 133, 

150 
Valois,  Ren6  de — see  Alencon. 
Values  of  autographs,  21;  affected  by 

condition,  24,  25;  length,  25;  celebrity, 

24;    contents,    23;    genuineness,    22; 

fashion,  25;  whether  1.  s.  or  a.  1.  s.,  25; 

increase  in,  69-78.     See  Prices. 
Van  Brugh,  Sir  John,  94 
Van  Buren,  Martin,  346,  348 
Van  Cortlandt,  Gen.  Philip,  343 
Vancouver,  George,  144 
Vandever,  William,  358 
Van  Dyck,  Anthony,  136 
Van  Dyke,  Nicholas,  326,  330;  father 

and  son  confused,  248 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  108 
Van  Rensselaer,  Jeremiah,  361 
Van  Schaick,  Gozen,  343 
Vanucci,  Pietro — see  Perrugino. 
Varenne,  Sire  de  la,  122 
Varick,  Richard,  345 
Varnum,  James  M.,  326,  343 
Varnum,  Joseph  B.,  347,  351 
Vecelli — see  Titian. 
Vega — see  Garcilasso. 
Vega-Carpio,  Felix  Lope  de,  135 
Vendome,  Due  de,  102 
Vercingetorix,  47 
Verneuil,  M.  de,  1 17 
Vernon,  William,  305 
Veronese,  Paolo  Cagliari,  called,  109, 122, 

123,  128,  136, 163 
Verulam,  Baron — see  Bacon. 
Vespucci,  Emerico,  133,  167 
Vice  Presidents,  250,  347-350 
Vicenza,  Duke  of,  105 
Victorvs,  Paolo  de,  1 14 
Villandry,  M.  de,  120 
Villeroy,  M.  de,  96,  97 
Villeroy,  Nicolas  de  Neufville^de,  109 
Villiers,  George — see  Buckingham. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  109,  126,  142,  204 
Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  122,  167 
Vinin^,   John,   326,    361;    Senior    and 

Junior  often  confused,  247 
Virgil,  16 


INDEX 


393 


Virginia  Historical  Society  Collections, 

227-228 
Volney,  176 

Voltaire,  14,7/,  115,  176 
Vose,  Gen.  Joseph,  343 
Vossius,  176 
Vouet,  Simon,  123,  135 
Vroom,  Peter  D.,  355 

Waddell,  Rev.  Moses,  212 
Wade,  Benjamin  F.,  349 
Wadsworth,  James,  325 
Wadsworth,  James  S.,  354 
Wadsworth,  Jeremiah,  326,  361 ;  papers, 

215 
Wadsworth,  Pcleg,  326 
Wake,  Sir  Isaac,  100 
Waldstein,    Albrect    Wenzel    Eusebius 

von,  144 
Walker,  Benjamin,  345 
Walker,  John,  327,  345,  360 
Walker,  Timothy,  327 
Wallenstein,  Count,  63,  64,  144,  147 
Waller,  Edmund,  93,  94,  124,  128,  129 
Waller,  John,  80,  81 

Waller, ,  80 

Walpole,  176 

Walsh,   W.   S.,   Handybook   of  Literary 

Curiosities,  16,  26 
Walsingham,  Sir  Francis,  123 
Walton,  George,  196, 301,  310,  327,  338 
Walton,  Isaac — Life  of  Sir  Henry  IVoot- 

ton,  18 
Walton,  John,  327,  331;  autograph  very 

rare,  264;  father  and  son  confused,  248 
Wanley,   Humphrey,   catalogue   of  the 

Harleian  MSS.,  18 
War,  Board  of,  303;  commissioners  for 

the  Board,  303 
War,  Civil  War  letters,  245 
War,  Revolutionary  Department  of,  303 
War,    Revolutionary    secretaries,    303- 

304 
War  and  Ordinance,  Board  of,  303 
Warburton,  175 
Ward,  Artemas,  304,  327,  343 
Ward,  Henry,  293 
Ward,  Samuel,  295,  327,  332 
Waring,  Thomas,  306 
Warner,  George  F.,  288 
Warren,  James,  305,  327 
Warren,  Joseph,  194,  201,  204 


Washburn,  Cadwalader  C,  358 

Washburne,  P^lihu  B.,  papers,  213 

Washington,  George,  75,  91,  95, 148, 158, 
167,  177,  185,  190,  194,  194,  196,  196, 
199,  202,  204,  206,  207,  211,215,  220, 
1U,1U,  297,  327,  337,  339, 346, 347; 
letter  to  Francis  Hopkinson,  68;  forged 
letters,  66,  67;  letter  about  his  gen- 
erals, 224;  letters  considered  recherchk, 
266;  farewell  address,  224;  household 
papers,  224;  letters  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia  Historical  Societies,  225, 
228;  change  in  his  handwriting,  252- 
253;  his  aides-de-camp,  344-345;  his 
secretaries,  344-345 

Washington, Martha,  75, 76, 95,i'0(?,-?(7^, 
204,  207 

Washington,  Mary,  75 

Waters,  Richard  P.,  354 

Watson,  John  F.,  286 

Watts,  174 

Wayne,  Anthony,  76,  194,  343;  auto- 
graph recherche,  266;  papers,  225 

Weare,  Mesech,  291 

Webb,  Samuel  B.,  343,  345 

Webster,  Daniel,  212,  219 

Weedon,  George,  343 

Welles,  Gideon,  papers,  213 

Welles,  Samuel,  291 

Wendell,  Jacob,  289 

Wentworth,  James,  327 

Wentworth,  John,  Sr.,  301,  327 

Wentworth,  John,  Jr.,  327,  329 

Wentworth,  Joshua,  327 

Wentworth,  Thomas — see  Strafford. 

Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  23,  24 

Wesley,  John,  233 

West,  Benjamin,  176 

West,  Benjamin  (N.  H.),  327,  335 

West,  James,  88 

West  Point  Garrison's  reply  to  Wash- 
ington, 211 

Weyman,  Stanley,  274 

Wharton,  John,  305,  306 

Wharton,  Samuel,  327 

Wheeler,  F.,  82 

Wheeler,  William  A.,  349 

Whipple,  William,  78,  306,  308,  327 

Whitcomb,  Gen.  John,  343 

White,  Alexander,  327,  362 

White,  Henry  Kirke,  93, 94, 124, 271,273; 
handwriting  never  changed,  253 


394 


INDEX 


White,  Hugh  Lawson,  348 
White,  James,  327 
White,  John,  352 
White,  Phillips,  327 
White,  Thomas,  355 
White,  Bp.  William,  175 

White, ,  dealer,  54 

Whitgift,  John,  128 

Whitman,  Walt,  274 

Whittier,  John  G.,  272,  274 

Wibird,  Richard,  291 

Wickliffe,  Charles  A.,  357 

Wilhelm — see  Woedtke. 

Wilkinson,  James,  343 

Wilkinson,  Tate,  94 

William  the  Silent — see  Orange. 

William  II,  of  Orange — see  Orange. 

William  II,  of  Germany,  note,  154 

Williams,  Elisha,  292 

Williams,  John,  327,  330 

Williams,  J.  B.,  88 

Williams,  Otho  H.,  343 

Williams,  Roger,  187,  /<?<?,  192,  203 

Williams,  William,  78,  308,  327;  papers, 

215 
Williamson,  Benjamin,  355 
Williamson,  Hugh,  327,  334,  338,  362 
Willing,  Thomas,  327 
Wilmot,  David,  355 
Wilson,  Henry,  349;  papers,  213 
Wilson,  James,  78,  225,  303,  309,  327, 

336 
Wilson,  Woodrow,  347 
Winder,  William,  306 
Wingate,  Paine,  327,  359 
Winthrop,  Robert  C,  187,  352 
Wirt,  William,  papers,  213 
Wisconsin  Historical  Society  Collection, 

280 
Wisconsin    State    Historical    Society's 

Collection,  228-229 
Wisner,  Henry,  296,  327 
Witherspoon,  John,  78,  212,  309,  327, 

330 
Woedtke,  Baron  de,  77,  343;  autograph 

extremely  rare,  266 
Wolcott,  C.  P.,  357 


Wolcott,  Erastus,  295,  328 

Wolcott,  Oliver,  78,  302,  308,  328,  329 

Wolcott,  Oliver  (Sec.  Treas.);  papers,  215 

Wolcott,  Robert,  Sr.,  Wolcott,  Robert, 
Jr.,  confounded,  249 

Wolcott,  Roger,  290 

Wolcott,  Roger,  Jr.,  292,  328;  auto- 
graph rare,  265 

Wolfe,  Gen.  James,  123,  129, 167, 194 

Wolfe,  Maj.  Walter,  167 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  128 

Wood,  John,  358 

Wood,  Joseph,  328 

Woodford,  Thomas,  307 

Woodford,  Gen.  William,  194 

Woodward,  Henry,  94 

Woodward,  William,  95,  174,  343 

Wool,  John  E.,  355 

Wooster,  David,  343 

Wotton,  Sir  Henry,  128 

Wordsworth,  William,  95,  174 

Worthington,  John,  291 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  94,  109 

Wright,  John  C,  357 

Wright,  Turbett,  328 

Wycherlv,  William,  124,  129 

Wynkoop,  Henry,  328,  361 

Wythe,  George,  78,  309,  328,  337 

Yates,  Abraham,  328 

Yates,  Peter,  328 

Yates,  Robert,  336 

York,  Anne  Hyde,  Duchess  of,  109 

York,  Duke  of — see  'James  II. 

Young,  Arthur,  175 

Young,  John,  88,  126,  237;  sale,  23,  71, 

74,  126-128,  129,  158 
Young,  Mr.,  Conversations  with  Mr.  Old, 

240-282 

Zeune,  Richard,  82 

Ziegler    (Caspar) — Facsimile    from    his 

Album  Amicorum,  19 
Zollicoffer,  Felix  K.,  357 
Zubly,  John  J.,  328 
Zuichen,  Viglius,  164 
Zwingli,  Ulrich,  137, 149, 154 


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